Never Let Me Go
by Monamon
Summary: Sookie goes to Fangtasia with Dawn, meets Godric and Eric and starts seeing Godric. Eric disapproves of their relationship and doesn't get along with Sookie, but finds himself growing closer to her as they try to prevent Godric from meeting the sun.
1. Chapter 1

"Sookie, hurry up and let's go!" Dawn was standing in front of me impatiently while I filled the last of the salt shakers. She had already changed out of the Merlotte's summer uniform that Sam has us wear. It was Friday night and we were just finishing up the early shift. Dawn had been begging me for days to go with her to the vampire bar in Shreveport.

I don't really go to bars much. I work in one and when I get off work I'd much rather go home and curl up on the couch with a book and my cat Tina by my side. But I have to admit that ever since the vampires came out of the coffin a couple of months ago I've been real curious to see one in real life. I've only ever seen them on TV and it wasn't like a vampire was going to walk into Merlotte's in a backwater town like Bon Temps any time soon. So if I wanted to meet one I was going to have to go Shreveport with Dawn, to this vampire bar called Fangtasia.

I finished up and went back to my boss Sam's office to change. I locked the door and got the dress I had brought with me. It was white with red flowers and came down to just above the knees. I fixed my hair real quick and touched up my make-up. Like I said, I don't go out much, but when I do I like to look nice. I spend so much time in shorts and a T-shirt that if I'm going somewhere special I like to make an effort.

I finished up and Dawn and I got in her car. We sang along to the songs on the radio all the way to Shreveport. I don't have many close friends, so it was a treat just to hang out and be silly with Dawn.

We arrived at Fangtasia and I got carded for the first time in years. Normally this would have surprised me, but I was too busy being in awe of the person who was doing the carding. She was very beautiful and very pale, and she was the first vampire I had ever seen. Finally she let us in and I looked around the bar.

"This feels a little bit like what a vampire bar would look like if it were a ride at Disney World" I told Dawn and she just laughed. We went over to the bar and I got a gin and tonic and Dawn got a Jack and Diet Coke. We sat down at a table, just taking it all in.

For the first time since we walked in, I let my shield down. I have a little disability, see. Ever since I was a little girl, I could hear voices. Other people's voices, the ones in their heads, the ones they think no one else can hear. The ones no one else should hear, but that I Sookie Stackhouse, freak of nature, most certainly can hear. I'm what you would call a telepath. And let me tell you, being telepathic is no walk in the park. In fact, it made my childhood pretty miserable. It made high-school hell, because the last thing you want to hear when you're on a date with a guy you've had a crush on for months is all his nasty thoughts about what he wants to do with you once he gets you home. And that was pretty much all anyone was thinking in here too; sex, sex, sex.

I looked around and something else caught my attention. In the middle of the room, there was a throne-like chair and on it sat the most beautiful man I have ever seen. He was blonde with a broad chest and a strong handsome face and though he was sitting down, I could tell he was really tall. There was something about him that just drew me in, and it was pretty clear that he was the main attraction in this bar. Everything seemed to revolve around him; people's thoughts, their stares.

Almost everyone in the bar was either looking at him or pretending not to be looking at him, while trying to sneak a peek. The vampire looked really intimidating, so I couldn't blame anyone for not wanting to be caught staring at him. Then a man walked up to him and before I could tell what was happening the vampire kicked him. The man flew across the room and in an instance a bunch of vampires surrounded him like vultures. Maybe this wasn't exactly like Disney World after all.

After a few minutes things seemed to have settled down and Dawn leaned over and whispered into my ear: "Sook, I'm gonna go over there and talk to him."

I turned to her with what must have been a shocked expression on my face and yelled over the loud music: "Dawn, don't! You saw what just happened to that guy. Don't go over there, that vampire is mean as a snake!" Dawn just laughed.

"Sookie, I'm not some middle-aged bald guy. There's no man alive – or dead" she added with a smirk,"who can resist me."

You had to hand it to Dawn, when it came to guys she had a self-confidence that couldn't be matched. And truth be told, she was real pretty and I didn't know any guy, including my brother Jason, who wouldn't beg to spend the night with her.

"All right" I sighed, "but be careful. And come right back when you've talked to him. I'll be waiting right here."

"Don't worry about me, Sook, I'll be fine." Dawn gave me one of her big smiles and tugged on her shirt to reveal even more cleavage. Then she turned around and walked away from me towards the vampire.

I sipped my drink slowly, staring at Dawn as she made her way through the crowd. As she got close to the stage I saw the vampire look up from his phone at her and I held my breath. What if he kicked her like he had done to the man? What if she started to bleed like he had, and a bunch of vampires flocked around her, trying to bite her? I was starting to mentally prepare myself for going to her rescue and I was trying to figure out how to get us out of of this place as quickly as possible.

Maybe that's why I couldn't hear the thoughts of the young boy who all of a sudden was sitting next to me in Dawn's chair. I jumped as I noticed him, and he gave me a soft smile.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you."

"Don't worry about it" I said and ducked my head down to sip my drink.

"Your friend over there", he nodded towards Dawn "she's brave."

"Or foolish", I muttered under my breath, real low so he wouldn't hear it over the loud music. I could hear the boy chuckle.

"Yes, or that." I looked up at him, and saw him smile.

He couldn't have been more than 17 or so and he had the most beautiful blue eyes I had ever seen. He was wearing a white shirt and I could see part of a tattoo peeking out from under it.

"Can I buy you another drink?" he asked me.

"Are you even old enough to buy alcohol?" The boy laughed.

"Oh, yes. I'm old enough. Would you like me to get you another gin and tonic?"

I let my shield down. I wanted to peek into the head of this strange boy who was starting to intrigue me. Once my shield was down, I reached out to his mind and heard...absolutely nothing. This startled me so much that I blurted out without thinking: "I can't hear you!"

He looked at me said "Can I get you another gin and tonic?" again, slower and louder this time.

"No, I can hear you, I just can't hear you."

He looked at me a little puzzled, then he said, even louder this time: "My name is Godric. What's your name?"

What was I thinking, I had totally forgotten my manners! I reached out my hand and said: "My name is Sookie Stackhouse and it's very nice to meet you."

He smiled, but he made no move towards my outstretched hand. "It's very nice to meet you too, Sookie. Are you from around here?"

I was just going to answer when the thoughts of a man standing close to me intruded into my mind. For the second time in less than five minutes I did what I had spent my whole life learning to avoid; I blurted out something that gave away my disability.

"We have to get out of here!" I told him and started to get up.

He didn't move, just stared at me with his intense blue eyes. "Godric, the cops are coming. There's gonna be a raid."

I looked at him, trying to convince him that we had to leave and realized that the kind, innocent face I had seen a minute ago was gone. Instead, the man whose eyes bore into me now looked cold and menacing.

"Tell me you're not an undercover cop" he demanded, his voice suddenly as intimidating as his face.

"I'm not, but that man in the hat is" I said, nodding towards the cop. I had hardly gotten the words out before people started yelling and all hell broke loose. The police had arrived and bar patrons, humans and vampires alike, where running in all directions.

In the commotion, Godric picked me up and before I could understand what was going on he had whisked me through the crowd, through what must have been a back entrance and out into the parking lot behind the bar. He put me down and grabbed my hand and we walked quickly across the parking lot to his car. He opened the door for me and I was so shook-up and dazed from what had just happened that I got in the car without thinking.

Within a second, Godric had gone around the car, gotten in, put on my seat belt for me and was speeding out of the parking lot. I just sat quietly for a couple of minutes before I got my bearings back and started to realize that I was sitting next to a stranger who I had just met and who could be a serial killer for all I knew.

"Where are we going?" I asked him, half fearing the answer.

"I'm going to take you home, Sookie. Where do you live?"

I told him, and felt much better. Of course he wasn't a killer, he was a nice, polite guy who was going to take me home.

We sat quietly in the car for another couple of minutes. I was deep in my own thoughts about tonight's events when I suddenly remembered Dawn. Oh my god, I had completely forgotten about her and just left her in the bar! What if she had gotten arrested? Or what if she had been taken by that big scary blonde vampire? I was starting to panic now; what a great friend I had turned out to be!

"Godric, turn around! We have to go back! I have to find Dawn." Godric took his eyes off the road and looked at me, his face again as sweet and innocent-looking as it had been when I first saw him.

"Sookie, we can't go back," he told me calmly. The police has closed down the bar by now. She won't be there."

"Well, if she has gotten arrested there's all the more reason to go back. I'll have to go get her, she can't spend the night in jail!"

Godric just looked at me and smiled. "Trust me Sookie, she won't be spending the night in jail."

"How do you know?"

"I saw her leave with Eric when the police arrived. She's probably spending the night with him."

"Eric, is that the big blonde vampire?" I asked him. Godric nodded.

"You know him?"

"Yes, I know him. Don't worry, Sookie, she'll be safe with him."

"Safe? With that big scary vampire? She'd be better off in jail!" I blurted out. Godric just chuckled.

I got my phone out of my purse and called Dawn. She didn't answer so I wrote her a message and put my phone away. I really didn't like the idea of Dawn being alone with that vampire, but if I was honest with myself I had to admit that being alone with him was probably what she had been planning all along. As much as I didn't like it, Dawn was a big girl and could take care of herself. And even if I could find out where she had gone with the vampire, which I couldn't, she probably wouldn't be happy if I interrupted them. I sighed and looked out on the road.

"Sookie, how did you know about the raid?" Godric's voice was soft and gentle, and scared the heck out of me.

In my shock and panic, first about the raid, then about having left Dawn behind, I had completely forgotten that I had given myself away back at the bar. I didn't know how to answer Godric and was desperately trying to come up with something. I'm a terrible liar, but the truth was probably not a good idea. "I..." was as much as I could get out, then I fell quiet again. I was starting to feel really uncomfortable.

"You said you're not a police officer and I believe you" Godric said. "I don't think you knew about it until right before it happened. Which means you probably heard him say something."

Oh, of course. Simple as that, why didn't I think of it? I had been so caught up in trying to cover up my telepathy that I hadn't thought of the simplest explanation. Of course I had just overheard him. And in a way it was the truth, I had overheard him even if he hadn't actually said anything out loud. "Yes" I said, relived at this obvious explanation "I heard him ask where his back-up was."

"Except Sookie," he answered calmly, "I don't think you are being truthful with me. I didn't hear him. And trust me, I have better hearing than most." Uh-oh. Ok, now I was back to feeling really uncomfortable.

We were both quiet for a moment. Then I heard Godric ask, "Sookie, can you hear people's thoughts?"

_What? _Plenty of people thought I was weird because of my telepathy, but no one had ever guessed the reason behind it. Most people just figured I was a little crazy.

"You are nothing like the other telepaths I have met, but I am fairly certain that is what you are. Am I correct?"

Other telepaths? There were others? I had wondered about that some times, really wished to meet someone else like me, but I never had. I had just assumed that I was telepathic because something was wrong with me. I had learned about mutations in freshman biology and I figured that must be why I had turned out like this.

"You've met other telepaths?" I asked Godric. The cat was out of the bag anyway, so there was no use pretending. Besides, if he could introduce me to others like me, that would be wonderful! I had never been sure that other telepaths even existed, let alone thought that I would ever get to meet one and now Godric was saying that he knew several others.

"Yes," he answered. "And they were all delicious."


	2. Chapter 2

_Thank you all so much for the kind reviews! I will try to keep Godric out of the sun. I adore him and wouldn't want him to get hurt..:) This will definitely be a Godric/Sookie/Eric story. Bill will show up sooner or later too.._

I froze as my brain registered Godric's words. "What do you mean?" I managed to whisper, while staring intently at my hands in my lap. For the first time during this crazy roller-coaster of a night, I was truly terrified. Somewhere in the back of my mind I noted that this feeling probably should have kicked in much earlier. Come to think of it, ever since I walked into Fangtasia I had a feeling that something bad was going to happen. Well, that something bad was probably going to happen right now.

"Don't you know what I am, Sookie?" he said quietly. I turned my head real slow and careful towards Godric. I don't know why, maybe I figured if I didn't make any sudden moves neither would he? Stupid, I know, but I had never been in any life-threatening situations before, so you couldn't really blame me for not knowing what to do. I looked up into his face and saw two sharp fangs sticking out from under his lips. Oh my god! Godric was a vampire? I was shaking now and my heart was racing.

"Don't be afraid, Sookie, I won't hurt you." Right. All of a sudden his fangs snapped back and were gone. Godric turned his eyes back to the road, and said quietly: "I'm sorry I frightened you, Sookie. That was not my intention. Most of the humans I'm around these days are so enamored with vampires that I forget how frightening I must seem to you."

We were quiet for the rest of the ride and when we finally reached my house, I was so eager to get away that I jumped out the moment the car stopped. Godric got out too and was at my side in an instant.

"It was a pleasure to meet you, Sookie. Could I see you again some time?" See me again? Oh no, most certainly not! I had never been as terrified as I had been tonight in the car with him. All I could think of was to get the hell away from him and I really wasn't eager to see him again. Ever.

"I..., I don't think that would be such a good idea", I told him, my eyes on the front door of my house. I just really, really wanted to be inside.

"I understand I must have overwhelmed and frightened you, Sookie. I'm truly sorry about that. I won't impose myself on you any longer. But may I do one thing, in case you ever change your mind? You might want to call me some time and I could arrange for you to meet with other telepaths. So just in case, may I give you my phone number?"

Ok, if that would get him to leave he could give me his number. It's not like I would ever call him. And he knew where I lived, so having his number would even things out a little. I gave him my phone and he punched in the number in an instant. As he handed me my phone back, he looked at me and I felt the strangest sensation. It was as if tiny electrical currents were bombarding my skin, trying to get into my head. I blinked and took one big step back from Godric.

"Good night" I said "and thank you so much for driving me home." I might be scared, but I still had manners.

"Good night, Sookie", he said quietly and got back in his car. I let out the breath I had been holding and watched him disappear down my driveway.

I woke the next morning and felt good. Last night seemed like a bad dream that I had finally woken up from. The sun was shining and it was a beautiful day. What made it even better was that I wasn't working today! I was going to have to run some errands, but the rest of the day I was free to do whatever I liked. I planned to go outside to work on my tan and read one of the books I had gotten from the library a couple of days ago. I took a long shower and got dressed.

My good mood didn't last long. Gran told me the terrible news over breakfast. Maudette Pickens who I'd gone to high-school with had been found dead, strangled in her own home. Gran had it on good authority that Maudette had vampire bites on her body and the rumor that was spreading like wildfire was that she was killed by a vampire.

"But she was strangled, right? Not drained?" I asked Gran. "That makes no sense."

Not that my one night at Fangtasia had made me an expert on vampires, but they lived off human blood, right? So it wouldn't make sense for a vampire to strangle a human instead of draining them. It would be kind of... wasteful. I told Gran as much and she agreed with me.

After we spent the rest of the morning chatting and drinking coffee, Gran asked me to run to the store to pick up a few things for lunch. I had just pulled out of the driveway when Sam called me. He told me Dawn hadn't shown up for her shift, and asked me to go by her place and wake her up.

When I got to her house I saw that her car wasn't there. I rang the bell, but she didn't open, so I tried calling her cell. She didn't answer, so I went around her house and peeked into all the windows. Dawn was definitely not home. She had probably spent the night with that big scary vampire. I called Sam and let him know, though I left out the part about the vampire.

When I got home, Gran was talking loudly on the phone, looking mighty upset. When she hung up, she told me Sheriff Dearborn had called to let her know that Jason had been arrested. He was a suspect in Maudette's murder and Dawn's disappearance. Dawn's disappearance? She hadn't come home last night, but that had nothing to do with Jason and everything to do with that vampire.

I told Gran a toned down version of last night so that she would know that Dawn had just spent the night in Shreveport and would be home soon. Gran interrupted me before I could finish. "Sookie, Dawn called 911 last night. She was cut off before she could tell them where she was."

Oh god, something had happened to Dawn. I had forgotten all about her and left her at Fangtasia and now she was missing and something awful might have happened to her.

My brother is many things, but he's not a killer. I knew I had to do something to find Dawn and get Jason out of jail, but I also knew that confronting the vampire from Fangtasia wasn't a great idea. So Gran and I drove into town to talk to Sheriff Dearborn and I told him about Fangtasia and about Dawn leaving with the big vampire. He was obviously keeping her hostage and they needed to go arrest him. Sheriff Dearborn was polite about it, but he made it very clear that they already had a suspect and weren't about to go chasing some vampire in Shreveport. And seeing that I was said suspect's sister, I was apparently not a credible witness.

For the second night in a row, I was headed to Fangtasia. I still thought that confronting that big brute of a vampire was a terrible idea, but the way I saw it I had no other choice if I wanted to help Dawn and Jason. I parked my car and walked up to the door, where the same vampire who had carded me last time was standing.

"I need to speak to Eric" I demanded.

The pale, beautiful vampire let out a small snort. "Yes, many people need many things from Eric. It doesn't mean that they will get it," she said.

Ok, that wasn't very helpful. I left the bar, utterly dejected. That was the word of the day a couple of days ago and it really did sum up perfectly how I felt. Dawn had vanished and might be locked up in a basement or even worse, dead in some ditch somewhere. Jason was arrested on suspicion of abducting her and of killing Maudette. Things couldn't possibly be worse. The horrible vampire who was probably responsible was protected by a bunch of other vampires and there was nothing I could do about it. I sat in my car in the parking lot and tried to think of what I could do next.

After a couple of minutes I gave up and decided to drive home. But first I was going to call Gran to let her know I was on my way home so that she could go to bed without worrying about me. I got my phone out of my purse and opened the address book. I punched in G and several names showed up on the little screen. Godric, Gran, Hoyt. Oh. How could I have forgotten about Godric? He had said he knew Eric, right? Maybe he could arrange for me to talk to him? Sure, it was a long-shot. Godric might not want to help me at all. And even if he did, he might only barely know Eric and might be turned away like I was if he tried to talk to him. But it was the only option I had left, so I had to give it a try. I took a deep breath and dialed Godric's number. It rang once and then I heard him answer.

"Hi Godric. This is Sookie Stackhouse. I don't know if you remember me, but we met at Fangtasia last night." I was really hoping I didn't sound as nervous as I felt.

"Of course I remember you, Sookie. How are you this evening?" His voice was so relaxed and friendly that I quickly forgot about how nervous I was. I went on to tell him about everything that had happened, about Dawn disappearing, about my brother being arrested. Then I finally told him about Eric and that I really needed to talk to him. It was real quiet for a second before I heard Godric burst out laughing. I swear I heard others laughing in the background too.

"You want to meet Eric so you can confront him about kidnapping and possibly killing your friend?" Godric asked me. All right, when he put it that way it did sound a little crazy. Walking into a vampire bar and accusing the head vampire of murder was a pretty bad idea. I started to have second-thoughts about the whole thing. Still, I couldn't back down now, not if I wanted to find Dawn.

"I don't mean to accuse him of anything. But,"_ In for a penny in for a pound, right? _"I would like to talk to him. If he was the last person to see her before she disappeared he might know something that could help me find her." What was I getting myself into? I probably really was as crazy as people thought I was.

"All right, Sookie, if that is what you want, I can arrange for you to meet him. When can you be at Fangtasia?" I told him that I was already in the parking lot, but that I couldn't get past the intimidating vampire lady at the door. I heard people laughing in the background again, while Godric told me he would meet at the door in a minute.

True to his word, he was there when I got to the door and he walked me past the scary vampire woman effortlessly. She just smiled and nodded at me. We went into the bar where the throne where I had last seen Eric was standing all empty. We walked across the room, then through a narrow hallway until we reached a door that Godric opened for me.

"After you" he said and I stepped into the room.


	3. Chapter 3

_Thanks again for the reviews! I hope you like this one._

The room was small with no windows and there was a bookshelf and filing cabinets and a sword hanging on the wall. Eric was sitting behind a big wooden desk. There was a computer on the desk, a stack of papers and for some inexplicable reason, a bottle of hot sauce. What in the world did a vampire need hot sauce for? Maybe this wasn't a good time to let my mind wander, I thought, and focused back on Eric. He was as beautiful and as intimidating as I remembered him. He nodded towards a chair in front of me and I sat down.

"So, this is the telepath?" he said to Godric, who had stepped into the room and closed the door behind him. "I wonder if she tastes as delicious as she smells." He looked at me like he was ready to devour me. His fangs were out too, and that sure contributed to making the whole devouring thing very much a possibility. I was in a small closed room at the back of noisy bar with two vampires who seemed to be convinced that I was some kind of delicacy. How easy would it be for them to jump me and drain me dry? My heart started racing and it felt like it was going to jump out of my chest.

"Eric, behave. You are frightening our guest." Godric said and Eric's fangs disappeared. His smile was so much nicer without the fangs.

"I apologize, Miss Stackhouse. It's been a long time since I've been around your kind. I get a little excited." Oh ok, I really didn't need to know that, whatever it meant. "Don't you know what you are, Miss Stackhouse?" Eric asked and looked at me like he was expecting an answer.

"Well, I'm a waitress," I told him. Eric and Godric both smiled.

"Yes, but what else are you, Sookie?" Godric asked. They already knew so no need to beat around the bush.

"I'm a telepathic waitress, I guess." Suddenly I felt the same strange sensation as I had felt last night, except much stronger. I was really losing my patience with these two.

"Could you please stop that," I blurted out. Both vampires just stared at me.

"What would you like us to stop doing, Sookie," Godric asked me.

"Whatever it is you're doing that's making my forehead itch."

"You can feel that?" Eric asked.

"Yes, I can feel it and it's annoying so knock it off."

"She really doesn't know" I heard Godric say to Eric. Know what?

"Sookie, apart from your telepathy, do you have any other gifts?" Godric asked. Any other gifts? What was he talking about? "Can you do anything else that is not normal for humans?"

"No, I can't," I said impatiently. I was getting annoyed with all these questions they were asking me, when I had come here to ask my questions of Eric. "Apart from my telepathy, I'm real normal. But that's not what I came to talk about. I wanted to ask you about Dawn."

"Yes, so Godric said. You want to know if I have your friend chained up in my basement." The big smirk on Eric's face really made me want to kick him somewhere he would remember. "I did in fact, but I can assure you she quite enjoyed it."

"What does that even mean?" I was really getting exasperated now, another good word of the day. "Does that mean you fed on her? That you had sex with her? What did you do to her?"

I was really on a roll here. "Did you kill her?" The last question just fell out of my mouth before I could stop myself. Oh yes, definitely on a roll here. Now would probably be a real good time to stop.

In an instant Eric was around the desk, towering over me like a raging giant. I realized I had never actually seen him standing up before and he was even taller than I expected. He was at least 6'4 or 6'5 and every inch of him was currently tense and ready to attack me. Great. Much help I was going to be to Dawn or Jason if I was ripped apart by an angry vampire. I closed my eyes and started praying. This was how I was going to die.

"Eric, stop." I heard Godric say and thought to myself, how sweet of him to try to help me. Godric was only a bit taller than me, maybe 5'5 or 5'6 and he wasn't exactly built like Eric. He was slight and almost fragile-looking and he wouldn't stand a chance against Eric in a fight. I just hoped Eric wouldn't attack him once he was done with me. This whole mess was my fault after all and had nothing to do with Godric.

I opened my eyes and saw that Eric had taken a step back. He was still staring angrily down at me, but his body seemed more relaxed, like it was no longer poised to rip my throat out. As far as developments went, this was a really good one. Then he started to speak.

"To answer your questions; yes, I have tasted her. I also fucked her. I did not however, as you so helpfully implied, kill her. Hiding a body is far too much trouble these days and besides, she was enjoyable. I wouldn't have minded having her back for more." Oh, ok then. Good to know.

"I can assure you that when she left here at dawn, she was perfectly fine. Maybe a little worse for wear," there was that annoying smirk again "but very satisfied." Ok, so never mind that Dawn was missing and presumed dead, the important thing here was that the sexual prowess of this annoying, self-centered mass of dead flesh was not to be doubted. I didn't actually say this out loud though. If the past couple of minutes had taught me anything, it was that letting my mouth run away with me in front of this vampire was not conducive to my survival.

"God, that man is so full of himself!" I fumed. For the second time this week, I was sitting in Godric's car while he drove me home. "How can you stand to be around him? Why are you friends with him? I really appreciate you standing up to him for me like you did, though you probably shouldn't have. He could have hurt you too."

"Don't worry, Sookie, Eric wouldn't hurt me. And I would never let him hurt you."

"That's real sweet Godric, but I seriously doubt anyone could stop Eric if he wanted to hurt me. Or you, for that matter."

Godric chuckled to himself. "Sookie, what do you know about vampires? About how we come into existence?" I had seen a documentary about this on TV, so I knew exactly how it was done.

"Well, a vampire has to drain a human and replace his blood with his own. Then he buries him and after three days the human wakes up as a vampire."

"That's right," Godric said. "And the vampire who makes the other is his maker. In our culture, there are very few things stronger than the bond between a maker and his child. When your maker commands you to do something, you have to do it. It's a compulsion. The power a maker has over his child is something you can't even begin to imagine, Sookie."

I was starting to understand what Godric was trying to tell me. "Oh my god, Eric is your maker? You have to do exactly what he says? I'm so sorry!" For the second time tonight, Godric burst out laughing at something I had said.

When he was done amusing himself at my expense, he took his eyes off the road and turned to me. "Eric is not my maker, Sookie. I am his."

Wow, I really hadn't expected that. "Really? But how is that even possible? He is so much bigger than you are!" Godric chuckled. I noted to myself that he did that a lot and that I liked it. It was kind of sweet and it made me smile. And even I had to admit that what I'd said made no sense. It's not as if Godric had given birth to him or anything. But it's just seemed so crazy that this sweet, gentle boy had created that big scary vampire.

"You made Eric a vampire? When? Why?" Maybe I was pushing it with my questions; it wasn't any of my business after all. I was just going to apologize for being nosy when Godric answered me.

"I was as old as Eric is now when I made him."

"Really? How old is Eric?" I interrupted. I expected him to say 50, maybe 100 years old. I had heard that vampires could be even older than that, but I could imagine that those vampires would be so old and tired that they wouldn't really come out into the world much.

"Eric is about 1000 years old, give or take a few decades." Oh wow. Not exactly what I expected to hear.

"So Eric is your son?" I asked. I really couldn't wrap my head around the fact that Godric was 2000 years old and the father of that big brute of a vampire.

"In a manner of speaking, yes. In other ways, very much not," Godric answered.

"What does that mean?" I had so many questions; I might as well start there.

"Sookie, I made Eric. I taught him how to be a vampire. But he was very much an adult when I turned him."

"I made Eric because I was lonely," he continued. "For a thousand years I never turned anyone. Becoming a maker is a big step in a vampire's existence. Many never make that commitment. Attaching another being to ourselves for eternity is not a decision most of us take lightly. I had been looking for a child for several decades when I found Eric. I followed him for months before I decided that he was the one. And when I finally made the decision, he was almost taken away from me before he was even mine."

Godric told me how Eric had been wounded in a battle and he had turned him while he was dying. He told me how they had spent centuries together before Eric decided to strike out on his own. He told me that in his 2000 years on earth he had never loved anyone as much as he loved Eric. It was touching to hear Godric talk about his love for Eric, but it was also a little strange. From what I'd heard vampires were secretive creatures and they weren't exactly prone to pouring their hearts out to humans, especially a human they'd only known for a couple of days. But here Godric was, doing exactly that.

Almost as if he knew what I was thinking he said, "Sookie, the reason I'm telling you this is that I want you to know that even though Eric might seem imposing, he is good at heart. He is fiercely loyal to those he cares for. He can be kind and protective and loving. "Loving? That big brute?

"Please keep that in mind. If you need something and you cannot find me, you must go to Eric. He will provide you with anything you need."

That was quite an interesting offer, but why would I need anything from Eric? Or Godric for that matter? I tried to express this to Godric as diplomatically as I could, telling him that as much as I appreciated his kindness I was fine on my own and didn't need help from anyone. We had been parked in front of my house for several minutes now and I opened the car door to get out.

Godric walked me to the door and as I was about to open it he grabbed my hand and whispered, "Something is wrong, Sookie. Invite me in."


	4. Chapter 4

_Here's the next chapter - sorry for taking so long, but I couldn't make up my mind about which direction to take the story. I've finally decided though, so here it is. The next chapter will be from someone else's POV. I'm not sure yet whether I should post several shorter chapters from his POV or post the whole thing in one, so the next chapter might take a while too, sorry! Thank you so much for your reviews! I will try to get better at the formatting._

There is nothing in the world that could have prepared me for what I saw when I stepped into the kitchen. Gran was lying on the floor in a pool of blood, her body splayed out and lifeless. The moment my brain registered what my eyes were seeing, my legs gave out under me. If it hadn't been for Godric catching me and holding me up, I would have collapsed on the floor next to Gran.

I blacked out and woke up on the couch, with my head on Godric's lap and his hands gently stroking my hair. There were other voices in the house, I noted, but I focused on Godric as he looked intently into my eyes. If it was just him and me in the whole world, then nothing bad could have had happened. Then my Gran wasn't lying dead in the kitchen and I didn't have to think about the fact that she was gone and I was alone in the world.

"Sookie, can you hear me?" Godric asked me and I nodded.

"She is awake" he told whoever else was in the room and Sheriff Dearborn came into view. He bent down next to the couch to get closer to me and I could see that his face was streaked by tears. Gran and him had known each other since they were kids, and they were both active members of the Descendants of the Glorious Dead. The way Gran had talked about him, she saw him as a little brother, and loved him more than her own brother Bartlett.

"I'm so sorry, Sookie" he said.

I just nodded, the tears in my eyes welling up. The next hour was the longest of my life, with people coming and going in and out of the house, asking questions, reminding me that Gran was dead. I stayed in the living room while they worked in the kitchen. My shield was in complete shambles and people's thoughts were constantly intruding into my brain. Whenever someone looked at Gran's body, what they saw flashed into my mind. I focused as hard as I could on Godric and his blissfully silent mind, while he held me and comforted me. It was nearing dawn when the Sheriff and the coroner finally left and Godric had to go as well. I thanked him for staying with me and assured him that I would be fine.

I went upstairs to my bedroom and locked the door and blocked it with a chair as an extra precaution. I had Gran's shotgun with me and wedged it into the narrow space between my bed and the bedside table. Whoever had killed Gran, might be coming for me next. I put my cell phone on the small table, ready to call the Sheriff the moment I heard the slightest noise. Then I lay down on my bed and cried myself to sleep. I woke up late the next morning, feeling even worse than I had when I'd gone to bed.

I went down to the kitchen and made myself a cup of coffee. Thankfully some kind soul had cleaned up, so there was no trace of what had happened here last night. I fixed myself breakfast and took it into the living room. There was no way I could stay in the kitchen a moment more than was necessary. I ate my breakfast slowly. The house was so quiet without Gran. I had never felt so alone in my life. Gran was dead and Jason was in jail. I had no other family. My parents had been killed in a flash flood when I was 8 and my aunt Linda had died of cancer a couple of years later. My cousin Hadley had run off years ago and I had no idea how to find her. Uncle Bartlett was the only one left and no way in hell was I going to get back in touch with him.

Mike Spencer, the funeral director at Spencer and Sons, called to make arrangements for Gran's funeral. Sam called to check up on me and I told him I was fine. What else was I gonna tell him? That my world had just imploded and I had no idea what to do. That I wished that I had been killed instead of Gran? That I thought that it was my fault that she was dead? I had thought about this all morning and I was convinced that I was the intended victim, not Gran. If I'd learned anything from watching CSI, it was that very few murders were random and serial killers almost always followed a pattern and chose victims that had certain things in common. Maudette and Dawn were both young women and they both had been in contact with vampires. Gran didn't fit into that picture, but I sure did. I had been to Fangtasia with Dawn the night she was murdered. If whoever had killed Dawn had known that she had been there, they were bound to know that I had been with her.

I was deep in thought and having my second cup of coffee when I heard a car driving up towards the house. I looked out the window and I saw a road-crew truck coming up the driveway. They had let Jason out of jail? Of course they had. It made sense that Sheriff Dearborn had let him go. The man who had killed Dawn and Maudette must be the same man who killed Gran and since Jason had been in jail, it obviously couldn't be him.

I was so happy to see my brother that I ran to the front door and opened it without thinking. The man coming up to the house was definitely not my brother. It was Arlene's boyfriend Rene Lenier, who worked with Jason. I wondered what he was doing here. I liked Rene just fine, but we weren't exactly best friends. He had been over at the house a couple of times with Jason, but never alone.

I wasn't sure why, but seeing him now made me nervous. He came up to the house and said hello and though I had a bad feeling about him being here, I invited him in. I tried to peek into his head, but he was singing the same lines of a song over and over. Jason did that when he wanted to keep me out of his head, but he was one of the few people who knew about my telepathy. Rene didn't know, or at least he shouldn't, unless Jason had told him. Considering what a big mouth my brother had, that might not be completely unlikely.

I asked Rene if he wanted a soda and he said yes, so I went into the kitchen to get it while he stayed in the living room. I don't know how he figured my telepathy works, but the moment I left the room, the singing in his head stopped. Instead he started thinking about last night and how it shouldn't have been Gran, but me. _Oh my god, Rene had killed Gran. And now he was here for me. _I put the soda down on the counter and walked as quietly as I could towards the back door.

The moment I was out of the house I started running and headed towards the cemetery. I knew Rene was running after me, getting closer and closer. I was getting flashes of his thoughts. I could see myself through his eyes, running in front of him as he closed in on me. Then he was thinking about what he would do to me when he caught me, how he would strangle me with his bare hands until I stopped breathing. There was no way I could control my shield anymore and I was getting one horrific image after another. I saw Rene strangling a girl I didn't recognize, then Maudette and Dawn. Seeing their faces in the last moments of their lives was chilling and I knew that once he caught up with me he would do the same to me.

Rene had gotten real close to me and suddenly he jumped on me and I fell down. I was slumped against a gravestone and he was hitting me all over; on my face, my stomach, my sides. Suddenly a dog came running towards us, a border collie I had seen around Merlotte's several times, a sweetheart of a dog that I had named Dean. Dean jumped on Rene and bit him, but Rene grabbed a rock and knocked him out.

That was my last hope, I thought. There was no way I could fight Rene in the state I was in. I was exhausted from running and my body was aching all over from Rene hitting me. This is it, I thought. I'm going to die at the hands of this horrible man, the same man who killed Gran. I remembered the images that I had seen in Rene's head in the kitchen, when he had thought back to killing Gran, the way he stabbed her mercilessly until she stopped moving.

Rene had his hands around my throat and I was gasping for breath. This horrible, hateful man had killed my Gran who had been nothing but kind to him. She hadn't deserved to die and neither had any of the other women he had killed. What the hell gave him the right to take the lives of innocent women because of his twisted beliefs? I was getting weak and light-headed and I felt a slight tingling across my skin. This must be what it feels like when there is no air left in your lungs, I thought, when your body starts shutting down because there is no oxygen left to sustain it.

Strangely enough, even though I knew I was going to die I didn't feel scared, I just felt angry. I was going to die at the hands of this monster? The tingling kept getting stronger, it flew across my skin and through my body, the way I imagine electricity would. It seemed to all be rushing towards my hands which were starting to feel like they were on fire.

I used all the strength I had left to lift my right arm up and hit Rene on the side of his head. I knew it wouldn't be enough to get him off me, but at least I would go down fighting. The moment my hand touched Rene's face he screamed and let go of my throat. I sucked in a few shallow breaths, filled with relief that I could breathe again, desperately trying to fill my lungs back up.

I saw Rene lunge at me and held up my hands to defend myself. This time I didn't even have to touch him, the heat in my hands turned into sparks that hit him like lightning. He fell to the ground and was writhing in pain while I struggled to get to my feet. I looked down on the ground a few feet away from Rene and laying there naked and unconscious was Sam. Ok, I would really have to think about that one. Suddenly Rene grabbed my ankle and without thinking I held my hands over him and the sparks hit him over and over again. I just watched, stunned, as he convulsed on the ground. I knew I had to stop, but I had no idea how.

I could sense someone come up behind me and heard Sam's familiar mind.

"Oh my god, what is she?"

Yeah, I'd like to know that too.

I felt Sam's hands on my arms, as he carefully guided them down to my sides so the sparks were hitting the ground instead of Rene, who was lying motionless in front of us. We stood there for what seemed like an eternity while I tried to catch my breath and wrap my head around what had just happened. Sam finally let go of me and bent down to check Rene's pulse.

"He's dead" I heard him say and I just stared at my hands.

The rest of the afternoon went by in a blur. Sam took me back to the house and called the police. I know at some point he must have gotten dressed, because he sure wasn't naked when Andy Bellefleur and Sheriff Dearborne showed up. Before we left the cemetery, Sam had checked Rene's body for burn marks and then hit him over the head with a rock. It was pretty awful to watch, but he was already dead so it wasn't like it would hurt him. Sam said that there were no visible burn marks and we would say that he hit Rene with a rock to get him off me.

I really appreciated Sam helping me like that, but I couldn't let him risk being accused of murder. After all, I had killed Rene even if it wasn't with a rock. I couldn't tell the police the whole truth, what with the sparks and all, but I was going to stick to it as closely as possible. I was praying they wouldn't do an autopsy because if they did I'd be toast.

So I told them that Rene had attacked me and I had hit him with the rock in self-defense. I also told them that he had admitted to me that he had killed Gran and the others. Again, it wasn't exactly the truth but close enough. This was the best I could do, considering that telepathy and shooting deadly sparks out of my hands wouldn't really stand up in court.


	5. Chapter 5

_Thank you so much for the reviews & sorry for taking so long – it turns out the Viking is harder to write than I thought. And big thanks to my sister – and beta – for helping me with this! _

I opened my eyes about half an hour before sunset. My maker was already awake, lying next to me in our bed. A sense of calm washed over me as I looked at him; I never felt as complete as when I was with him. The past few decades we have spent mostly apart, even though we live in relative proximity to each other, me in Louisiana, and he in Texas. So when Godric unexpectedly came to Fangtasia one night, telling me he was moving back in with me, I was thrilled. I have never loved another being as I love Godric, not even my child Pam, though she is the only other I do love.

In one movement I bridged the gap between us and bent over Godric, moving my mouth down the length of his body. Godric is small; he had not yet grown into a man when he was turned. I was a full-grown man when he turned me; tall and broad-shouldered and at the height of my physical prowess.

The difference between us is as obvious as it is misleading. Wanting Godric doesn't make me a dirty old man; he's over 1000 years my senior. His strength beats mine tenfold. He can overpower me as easily as I can a human, due to the simple fact that our strength increases with age and he is one of the oldest vampires in existence.

He is also my maker, so even if I were physically stronger, I could never disobey his wishes. The wishes I was obeying now were more mine than they were his; my mouth sliding down the length of his body, a body so familiar to me that it might as well be my own. When I reached the spot I was aiming for, Godric grabbed my head and held it between his small hands.

"Not tonight, Eric" he said and kissed me lightly on the forehead. I had to suppress a growl of frustration as he got up to take a shower. It wasn't the sex, I could have my pick of any of the fang-bangers at Fangtasia. It was the fact that Godric was a shadow of himself and nothing I did could bring him back to his old self.

Once we had both showered and dressed Godric decided to come with me to Fangtasia. It was a relief - him coming with me meant that it wouldn't happen tonight. I had been so happy to have Godric's back with me that it had taken me a long time to see the change in him. Only in the past few days had the realization hit me and when I confronted him, he didn't deny it.

Though vampires do not age and we do not die of diseases, we are not truly immortal; we too can die. In fact it is quite simple, all we have to do is to be outside when the sun rises. This was what Godric intended to do. I couldn't phantom the reasons and when he tried to explain it to me I could not comprehend it. He had simply tired of his existence and planned to end it.

I have never in my thousand years felt the kind of despair and helplessness as I have since I realized my maker's intentions. Most vampires would be happy to be rid of their makers. As painful as the moment the bond between maker and child is severed is, there is no longer a vampire who holds complete power over you. Your existence is your own again and you no longer have to bow to someone who will always have the ability to overpower you, both physically and mentally.

I had no desire to be rid of my maker. On the contrary, the thought of an existence without Godric was inconceivable to me. Many makers are unnecessarily cruel, a relationship like ours is more the exception than the rule. Godric taught me well, when it was time for me to make my own child I made sure to be a maker worthy of the example he had set for me. I succeeded; Pam is still with me centuries after her turning, as loyal to me as I am to Godric.

There was a raid at the bar that night. This was not uncommon, but it was a hassle. Nothing major was ever discovered, we would get a fine and wait for the next raid. When I heard voices outside getting ready to storm the bar, I looked for Godric. He was still with the little blonde that he had been sitting with since she arrived. Sookie Stackhouse from Bon Temps, Pam had informed me.

I looked at him and he nodded. I understood, he was going to leave with her. So little interested him anymore that I was happy to see that someone had caught his eye. I couldn't even get him to feed properly, all he drank was True Blood, so I hoped he had finally come to his senses and would feed from her tonight. He needed some real blood in him instead of that synthetic crap.

As the cops stormed the bar, I grabbed the cute brunette the blonde had come in with and took her down to the basement under Fangtasia. The cops could raid the bar as much as they wanted, but they wouldn't be able to get into the basement. I spent a few hours exhausting the girl and went home to Godric close to dawn.

When I got home he was already in bed, in down time. I undressed and lay down next to him and he opened his eyes. "Did you have a good meal tonight?" I asked him. He smiled at me, but didn't answer. When we both died for the day, Godric was still with me, still not irrevocably dead.

The nights passed slowly as Godric made arrangements for his final death. He was making a will and transferring two millennia worth of assets to me. Now that we are out of the coffin, even the un-dead have to deal with paperwork. I have never been so grateful for the slow grind of bureaucracy as I were in the days before Godric went to meet the sun.

In the nights following the raid at Fangtasia things changed somewhat. There were moments when Godric was his old self again; smiling at my jokes, showing an interest in the world around him. Mostly he was showing an interest in Sookie Stackhouse, the telepath.

He talked with fascination about her, about things she said, about what she might be. He let himself – and me by extension – get involved with her petty concerns. It was fine with me. She was more interesting than the average blood-bag, I would give her that. She was beautiful and her scent was nothing like anything I had experienced. She had a spark in her that was rare in humans. She stood up to me in a way no human dared to. It was hard to tell if she was really stupid or really brave. Probably both. Her telepathy could certainly be useful. Godric was probably right in thinking that she was something more than just human.

I followed him one night as he went to see her. I wanted to see for myself the influence she had over him, maybe it was strong enough to prevent him from meeting the sun. If it was, I needed to know so that I could make use of it. I couldn't leave my maker's fate in the hands of a woman he had only known for a few days.

They were sitting on her porch, talking. The conversation deteriorated from boring to unpleasant within minutes. I just stared at them from the shadows as Godric tried to reason with that impossible woman. I could feel through our bond how his despair and hopelessness increased as she spoke. There had finally been a small sliver of hope that he would reconsider his plans to meet the sun, that he would stay here with me. That useless blood-bag crushed it all with a few carelessly cruel words.

She closed the door and Godric walked away, utterly defeated. I could feel his renewed resolve to meet the sun and a rage rose in me that I hadn't felt for centuries. Her actions would lead to my maker's final death, it was only fair that they should lead to her death as well. All rational thought left me and a blood-lust so strong I felt myself shake rose in me. I couldn't go into her home without an invitation, so she would have to come to me. Sometimes the simplest plans are the best plans. I walked up to her front door and knocked.


	6. Chapter 6

"Miss Stackhouse, may I come in?" I asked her as she opened the door. It took all my self-control to be civil and seem harmless enough for her to invite me in.

"Eric, what are you doing here?" she asked. Her face was swollen and covered with marks and bruises. What the hell had happened to her?

"I need to speak with you." I told her softly. I could see her resolve falter. This would be so easy.

She looked at me wearily but opened the door wide. "Eric, won't you please come in."

The moment the words left her mouth I lunged at her, knocking her to the floor. I grabbed her frail throat, my hands encircling it almost completely. I growled as she stared at me wide-eyed and I could see terror in her face. It was a look I had seen a thousand times before and not once had it ended in anything but the death of another worthless blood-bag. I pushed her head to one side and was about to sink my fangs into her when a hand grabbed my neck in an iron grip. A second later I was thrown across the room with a force that knocked me out.

When I woke I was lying on my bed. My maker was sitting at the other end of the room, his pale blue eyes fixed on me with an intensity that made me cringe.

"Humans. Honestly Godric, I don't know what you see in them." I said, though it didn't come out as forcefully as I intended.

"Eric, in our 1000 years together I have never been as disappointed in you, as saddend by your actions as I am tonight. You have proved to me yet again that we truly are monsters. We don't belong here. It's not right. We're not right.

I could see the despair in Godric's face and knew that nothing I could say to him would keep him from meeting the sun. As much as I hated to do it, I had only one option left.

"You will never harm the girl again," Godric said. "As your maker, I command you."

* * *

I went back to work the day after Rene attacked me at the cemetery. Sam wanted me to take a couple of days off, but the last thing I needed was to be all alone in the house and have too much time to think. Things were real awkward between Arlene and me and being at Merlotte's reminded me of Dawn, but work kept me busy which was what I needed. I had bruises of every conceivable shape and color all over my body, but otherwise I had survived Rene's beating surprisingly intact.

Sheriff Dearborn let Jason go in time for Gran's funeral. Dawn was found strangled in the woods close to Arlene's house. The investigation into the murders was closed soon after, seeing that the killer was dead. I finally worked up the courage to ask Sam what had happened at the cemetery and he came right out and told me what he was. I was a bit shocked when he told me about shifters and weres and other supes, but to be honest I wasn't too surprised. Ever since the vampires came out I had wondered if there might be others. And it did explain why some minds were so different to read than others. I asked Sam if he had ever heard of anyone who could do what I had done to Rene, but he hadn't.

Slowly I started to get back into a comfortable routine. I took on as many shifts as Sam would let me and when I wasn't working I spent time at home reading or cleaning or working on my tan. I still missed Gran so much, but I didn't feel like crying every time I went into the kitchen anymore.

Godric called me several times and even came by the house a couple of times. We would sit out on the porch at night and talk. He would tell me about his many years as a vampire and how his world worked and I told him about my family and life in Bon Temps. He was really easy to talk to and I really enjoyed his company, but eventually I had to tell him it was better we didn't see each other.

I told him I was grateful that he had been with me that horrible night, but that I needed some time alone. This was true, but mostly I just didn't want to deal with vampires. My life had taken a horrible turn after I first went to Fangtasia and even though it wasn't his fault, I just felt that no good could come out of being sucked into his world. Even though the real monster in my life had been all human, the moments I had spent in Eric's office showed me that vampires had a whole other side to them than what the American Vampire League was trying to make us believe.

Still, it wasn't easy sticking to my decision. I don't know how many times I sat staring at my phone, trying to decide whether or not to call Godric. If I was real honest with myself I had to admit that I really missed him. I found myself thinking about him a lot, wondering what he was doing, wishing that he was with me. Whenever I had thoughts like that I gave myself a stern talking to and tried to stay busy.

Try as I might I couldn't keep my life entirely vampire free, since Bon Temps had actually gotten its first vampire. He had moved into the old Compton house across the cemetery from my house and came into Merlotte's almost every night. His name was Bill Compton. He was really friendly and always sat in my section and talked to me. He even asked me if he could see me after work, but I politely declined several times. If I was going to break my promise to stay away from vampires, it would be to see Godric, not Bill.

A few nights after I had told Godric that I didn't think we should be seeing each other, he came over to the house again. We sat on the porch and talked for a long time. I had never seen him as upset or emotional as he was that night. A part of me really wanted to comfort him and tell him that I would stay with him, but another part of me knew that I needed to get my life back to as normal as possible and a vampire boyfriend wasn't a part of that plan.

When Godric left I was so conflicted. I desperately wanted to go after him, but I knew it was best not to. I had made a decision and I needed to stick to it. I went into the house and had just turned on the TV when there was a knock on the door. I was so happy that Godric had come back. I felt terrible about how we had left things. Maybe now that we had both calmed down a little we could we could talk things through.

When I opened the door, it wasn't Godric standing there, it was Eric. What in the world did he want?

"I need to speak with you," he said. I figured Godric had sent him to talk to me, since he was probably too upset to come back himself.

As uncomfortable as Eric made me, when he asked me to invite him in, I did.

Before I knew what was happening, Eric had knocked me over. His face was inches from mine and it was truly terrifying. All I could see were his fangs and an overwhelming rage. He was all animal, there was no trace of humanity left in him at all.

As he crouched over me, his fangs ready to strike my throat, I felt the same fire in my hands as I had with Rene. I was trying to put my hands on Eric's face when all of a sudden he was thrown off of me and clean across the living room. When I looked up Godric was standing above me, his face as full of rage as Eric's had been. Luckily, this time it wasn't directed at me.

"Sookie, are you all right?" Godric asked.

I just nodded, still unable to speak.

"I'm so sorry, Sookie," he said and helped me over to the couch.

"I never meant for this to happen. You have experienced so much loss and violence, I wanted to be a safe haven for you. Instead, I nearly got you killed."

He was quiet for a long moment before he continued. "I should never have come into your life, Sookie. It was a mistake. Humans and vampires co-existing peacefully is a ridiculous illusion. We bring nothing but death and destruction into your lives."

I tried to tell him that plenty of humans brought death and destruction into other people's lives and that he himself had been nothing but good to me, but he was inconsolable.

Godric effortlessly picked the still unconscious Eric up from the floor and left. I felt as empty and lost as the night I had lost Gran and cried myself to sleep yet again.

It had been three days since that horrible night I last saw Godric and Eric. I came home from work late at night and he was standing on the porch waiting for me. He was as beautiful and as scary as he had been the other times I had seen him.

"Miss Stackhouse" he said. "You look well."

"Eric, what are you doing here?"

"I came to see you. May I come in?"

Yeah, right – I was not going to fall for that twice. I had rescinded Eric's invitation and no way was I going to invite him into my house again. The sight of him terrified me, even if Godric had assured me that he could not hurt me anymore.

"Last time I let you into my house you tried to kill me. Let's just sit out here and see how that goes. Maybe if you can sit for ten minutes without killing me, I'll think about letting you into my house. " Or not. I was terrified, but I was also mad. I sat down on the porch swing and Eric joined me.

"What can I do for you, Eric?" I asked him with a shaky voice. I had a feeling I wouldn't like the answer, but he had come out here all the way from Shreveport so it was only polite to hear him out. And what else was I gonna do anyway? I knew I wouldn't be able to make it into the house fast enough to get away from him. I had experienced firsthand exactly how fast an attacking Eric could be. I might be able to fight him with my newfound powers, but I figured there was no need to test that until it was absolutely necessary. If I tried to attack him and failed, Eric could kill me instantly. So for now I would watch his every move and hear him out.

"Miss Stackhouse, I want to apologize for what happened."

Oh, ok. That was not exactly what I expected to hear. I had a feeling this was a rare moment in Eric's life; the great Viking vampire apologizing to a mere mortal.

Before I could say anything, he continued. "Did Godric tell you about me, about what he means to me?"

"Well, not exactly." I answered. "He told me about how he feels about you. He loves you very much."

"Yes, and I feel the same about him. Probably much more. He is my maker. He has made me what I am. If it weren't for him I would have been dead and buried 1000 years ago."

He paused for a long moment before he continued. "Sookie, I came to see you because I don't know what else do to." That was a surprise. "Godric is not well. I fear I might lose him."

That sure startled me. "Lose him? I didn't think vampires could get sick. I thought you could only die if you are staked or you stay out after dawn."

"Exactly," Eric answered sadly. "Suicide is a rare occurrence among our kind, but it is not unheard of. Godric is very old. For some reason he has decided that he has had enough. He is convinced that vampires are an abomination, that our existence is wrong. He has decided to meet the sun."

Eric explained to me what that meant and I shuddered. Godric was planning to burn himself alive? Now I felt really terrible about telling him that I didn't want to see him anymore.

Eric told me that Godric had resigned from his position as sheriff of an area in Texas a couple of months ago and had moved in with him.

"At first I was overjoyed. It was wonderful to be with my maker again and have everything be as it used to between us. But after a few weeks I came to realize that he hadn't come to start anew. He came to say good bye."

I looked at Eric and I was shocked at what I saw. The ancient vampire who had made me fear for my life looked as vulnerable as a baby. His face was streaked with blood from the tears streaming down. I really wanted to put my arms around him and tell him that it was going to be all right, but I knew that vampires weren't really into touching humans unless they were feeding on them or having sex with them, so I kept my hands to myself.

"Sookie, the reason I've come to you is that when he met you, something changed in him. He seemed hopeful again. He talked about you. He laughed again; I hadn't heard him laugh in a long while."

Eric paused for a moment before he continued. "But then one night he had been to see you he retreated into himself again. He wouldn't tell me what had happened. He was protecting you. And he was right. When he came to see you the next night I followed him. When I felt the despair your words caused in him, I was overcome with rage. The little hope I had left that Godric might not end his existence completely vanished. I wasn't my rational self. Killing you would only have hurt Godric. As it is, attacking you only convinced him even more that vampires are an abomination."

I took a deep breath as I tried to let everything Eric was telling me sink in.

"I have tried everything. I have begged him, I have threatened him. I told him I would keep him here by force; I told him I would meet the sun with him. He has commanded me not to do either. Nothing I can say or do will make him change his mind. He is putting his affairs in order. When it is all finalized he will go to his final death. I don't know when that will be, but I have a feeling it will be soon. It might be tonight, it might be in a week. You're my last hope, Sookie. I need you to talk to him."

I thought of what it had felt like to lose my parents, to know that they were never going to be a part of my life again. I thought of finding Gran on the kitchen floor and the overwhelming grief and pain I had felt that night washed over me again. Godric had been there with me that horrible night. He had held me up when I had gone into shock, had held me and comforted me. I owed him to try to talk him out of killing himself. But more than that, I found that the thought of never seeing Godric again pained me more than I would have expected.

"Of course I'll do anything I can," I told Eric.

If anyone had told me only an hour earlier that I would willingly get into Eric's car and be alone with him for the long drive to Shreveport, I would have told them they were crazy. But that's exactly where I found myself; staring out of the window of Eric's Corvette, desperately trying to think of what I could possibly say to keep a 2000 year old vampire from killing himself.


	7. Chapter 7

My last night on earth had finally come. It had been a long time coming and I welcomed it with open arms. There are no words for how weary I had become. 2000 years is enough. The endless circle of hunting and being hunted, of killing and avoiding getting killed; it all seemed so meaningless. There simply were no reasons left to continue my existence.

My child would be the only reason left to stay, but I know he will be better off without me. A maker who cares nothing for his own existence is a liability like no other. I would be a magnet for his enemies, an easy pawn to manipulate him with. My child being what he is, loyal to the end, I would end up getting him killed.

It was a beautiful night, the air warm, the sky scattered with stars. Dawn was close; I could feel it in every cell of my body. I felt no fear, only anticipation. I didn't feel the relief and joy I had expected, but no matter. I had made my decision and had no reasons to reconsider.

I could feel him before I could see him. I turned towards the house and my child came into view. A moment later Sookie stepped out from behind him.

"Sookie, are you all right? Has Eric hurt you?" I asked anxiously, even though I knew he could not.

My child spoke up before she could say anything. "No Godric, I have not. She came willingly."

"Eric, leave us," I told him. She couldn't speak openly as long as he was with us. And dawn was approaching fast; I wanted him inside before then.

He stepped in front of me and went down on his knees, bloody tears streaming down his face.

"Snälla Godric, gör inta det."

"Vi har haft århundranden av kärlek och tillit till varandra. Let me go." *

The grief and pain coming through our bond was overwhelming. I tried to send reassurance and love back to lessen it, but I knew that it was futile. I had caused this horrible pain in the only being I truly loved and I would continue to cause it long after my death. The gravity of that realization hit me with full force as Eric rose slowly and walked back to the house.

When I was certain my child was safe from the impending dawn I turned back to Sookie and looked for confirmation that Eric had not harmed her or threatened her in any way.

"It's true Godric," she said softly. "Eric didn't force me; I came because I wanted to. I can't let you do this to yourself."

Tears were flowing down her beautiful face. "Please Godric, I'm begging you, please don't do this."

I could not believe it. She had come here willingly with the vampire who only a few days ago was seconds away from brutally ending her short life. Despite how scared she must have been, despite the fear that he would try to kill her again, she had come with him to talk me out of ending my existence. 2000 years and I could still be surprised. This frail little human had selflessly risked her own life to save mine. In this I could see God. In this I could see hope.

She stepped closer to me, reaching for my hand. "Please Godric, come inside."

Her hand closed over mine and she tugged at it gently as I stared at her mesmerized. I didn't want to leave her. And I didn't want to leave my child, I knew that now. I could feel myself weaken as the sun began to rise and my skin started to burn.

I followed her as she walked quickly towards the house. Once we got inside, I led her towards my bedroom. I wanted more than anything to be alone with this amazing creature.

"Stay with me" I begged her, so desperate to stay close to her, to never let her go.

"Of course," she said with a small smile.

She removed her shoes and shorts and crawled under the sheets with me. I drew her close to me, reveling in the feel of her warm soft body against mine. She slid her hand into mine and I clasped it. I took a deep breath to fill myself with her wonderful scent and then I was dead to the world.

* * *

When I woke up half an hour before sunset I could hear movement in the house. This wasn't unusual since Godric was normally up before me, but I could feel from our bond that he was still dead to the world. Being outside so close to dawn must have weakened him so much that he needed a longer rest than usual.

I had watched them last night from the house as Sookie talked Godric out of meeting the sun. In a few minutes she had managed what I couldn't do in several weeks; she had convinced Godric not to end his existence. I couldn't comprehend how she had done it, but I was endlessly grateful that she had.

She must have stayed with Godric during the day. I got up and went towards Godric's room, where she was just closing the door. She was leaving. I couldn't let her go. She had to be there when Godric woke up.

I took a step closer to her to block her path. "Sookie, I can't let you leave," I told her.

She looked up at me and tried to move around me.

"I'm not afraid of you," she said.

"You should be."

"I know. But I'm not." I listened to her heartbeat. It was steady and calm.

"You love Godric," she said. "You would never disappoint him by hurting me."

"I almost killed you. I would have if he hadn't stopped me."

"I know. But you won't do it again." She said it with such conviction, I knew she believed it. But more than that, I knew she was right. I could never hurt her again, not after what she had done for Godric, what she had done for me.

I had nearly killed her and she had selflessly given me the only thing I really wanted, the only thing I truly needed; Godric's continued existence. And now she was standing before the monster who nearly ended her life and she showed no fear whatsoever. She was mesmerizing.

"What are you?" I asked her.

"I'm a waitress, Eric." She smiled. "I'm the telepathic waitress from Bon Temps who's going to kick your ass if you ever try to pull something like that again." She looked me straight in the eye and didn't waver for a second. She was truly a magnificent creature.

"Please Sookie, stay," I begged her. "You should be here when he wakes up."

She looked at me for a long while, then nodded and went back into Godric's room.

_*Please Godric, don't do it._  
_We have had centuries of love and faith between us._


	8. Chapter 8

I couldn't believe that Godric actually listened to me, letting me take his hand and lead him back to the house. I was so relieved and so thankful. When he asked me to lie down next to him it felt like the right thing to do. I'd never slept next to a man before, not unless you count Jason when we were kids. But in that moment I wanted nothing more than to be close to Godric, to feel his body next to mine.

I wanted to watch over him, to make sure that he was safe. I patted around the covers for his hand and when I found it, I slid my own over it. His palm was turned up to meet my palm and his fingers clasped mine. Since it was already dawn, Godric was quickly overcome with the deep sleep that vampires fall into during the day. And though I would not have thought it was possible to go to sleep holding hands with a vampire, that's exactly what I did.

When I woke up, it must have been before sun-down, because Godric was still asleep. I lay in bed for a long time, just watching him. He didn't breathe, he didn't move. He was so still, it was eerie. He really was dead for the day.

I stared at his beautiful face, with his straight nose, soft lips and long lashes. He looked so young and innocent. I knew he was neither, but seeing him like this, knowing what had almost happened - all I wanted to do was to protect him, to take care of him. I reached out and touched his face. His skin was so soft. Then, without thinking, without trying to overcome the sudden impulse, I closed the distance between us and I kissed him.

It was just a quick peck on the lips, but I was embarrassed that I had done something so brazen. Godric wasn't awake to let me know whether he wanted it or not. Maybe he didn't see me that way. The nights we had spent together we had mostly just talked. He had put his hands over mine a few times and he had kissed me on the cheek, but that didn't have to mean anything. He might not be interested in me that way at all.

I got up and put my shorts and shoes on quickly. I pulled my hair back up in a pony tail, grabbed my purse and left the room. I was just closing the door as quietly as I could when I felt someone behind me. I turned around and found Eric towering over me. God, I was getting tired of him always ambushing me. I could live with him not liking me, but he could at least stop picking fights with me all the time.

"Sookie, I can't let you leave," were the first words out of his mouth. Yup, true to form. Bossy vampire.

If that big brute thought he could intimidate me, he had another thing coming. I worked in a bar – I had dealt with enough men with a sense of entitlement who thought they could do whatever they wanted to a woman. So I knew you have to stand your ground and never show them that you are scared. And I wasn't scared. I had my sparks now and I had survived two attempts on my life in the past couple of weeks. If Eric wanted a fight he would get one.

"I'm not afraid of you," I said and I meant it.

"You should be," he answered.

"I know. But I'm not. You love Godric. You would never disappoint him by hurting me." _And if you try I will zap you, you big brute._ I didn't say the last part out loud. Let him be surprised.

"I almost killed you. I would have if he hadn't stopped me."

"I know. But you won't do it again," I told him. I was pretty sure Godric had given him a hard time about it, so he'd be really stupid to do it again.

"What are you?" he asked me.

"I'm a waitress, Eric" I answered. I should probably have stopped there, but I was feeling pretty annoyed and a tiny bit cocky. This new zappy power was really doing wonders for my self-confidence.

"I'm the telepathic waitress from Bon Temps who's going to kick your ass if you ever try to pull something like that again," I said and watched him closely. If he pounced on me I had to make sure my hands were free to defend myself.

"Please Sookie, stay," he said. It didn't sound like a command. If I didn't know better, I'd think that the great Viking vampire was pleading with me. "You should be here when he wakes up."

He was probably right. I'd been so embarrassed about kissing Godric that I had tried to sneak out, which was just not a polite thing to do. Whatever we meant to each other I owed it to Godric to figure it out and deal with it as an adult. And that did not include skulking off while he was still out for the day.

I turned away from Eric and went back into Godric's room. He was still in his daytime sleep so I took off my shoes and shorts and crawled back into bed with him.

Godric hadn't moved an inch since last night, his body was in the exact same position it had been when he fell asleep. I slipped my hand back into his and lay on my side, just looking at him. This beautiful man had lived for 2000 years. He must have seen everything, done everything. I couldn't imagine what that would be like. The world must look so different to him, since he had seen it evolve and change over the centuries. And despite his age, his experience and the knowledge he must have, he chose to listen to me. I didn't understand why, but I was so happy that he did.

I might not know what changed for Godric last night to keep him from meeting the sun, but I knew what had changed for me. I hadn't talked him out of it because I felt I owed him. I hadn't done it because Eric wanted me to.

I'd done it because the thought of never seeing Godric again hurt me to my core. I'd done it because what I felt for Godric was unlike anything I had felt before. I'd done it because I was in love with him.

I was so lost in my thoughts that I didn't realize that Godric had woken up and was looking at me. He smiled and I just melted. He put his arm around me and pulled me close to him, and I buried my face in his chest. We lay like this for a long while, just enjoying the closeness. Godric was stroking my arm and occasionally he would leave little kisses on my hair.

"Thank you," he whispered in my ear.

I turned my face up so I could see him. "I'm the one who should thank you, Godric. I'm so happy you chose to stay. I can't even imagine how awful it would have been to lose you."

His arms around me tightened and he bent down so that his face was closer to mine. A moment later his lips were on mine and he kissed me.


	9. Chapter 9

_Thank you so much for the reviews, I'm so happy you're enjoying the story!_

It was a Thursday night and I was working the late shift. It had been a slow night and there was only an hour to go before closing. I was just getting Bill Compton his third True Blood of the evening when Denise and Mack Rattray walked in.

Of all the people in Bon Temps, the Rattrays, or the Rats as I called them, were my least favorite. The feeling was mutual, at least as far as Denise was concerned. I knew this because a few times my shield had slipped around her and I had accidentally dipped into her mind. She thought I was stupid and not much to look at, not like her. Mack didn't seem to agree, since the few thoughts of his I had caught involved me and him naked, doing disgusting things. Ugh. The Rats gave me the creeps.

I took their order and went about my business. When I came back with their beers they had moved from their booth and were sitting with Bill Compton, who didn't exactly look thrilled with their company. I went to get my brother and Hoyt another pitcher of beer and Andy Bellefleur his burger.

It couldn't have taken more than a couple of minutes, but when I looked over to Bill and the Rattray's table they were all gone. I didn't like that at all. I knew the Rats were drug dealers and the rumor was that they had branched out into dealing V. And since I couldn't imagine any vampire voluntarily giving their blood to the Rattrays, I figured they must be drainers. I knew this, but Bill probably didn't. He hadn't lived here long enough for people to tell him the latest gossip.

I told Sam I was taking my break and went out to the parking lot. It was dark and quiet. I had walked half-way around Merlotte's when I heard them. The Rattrays were arguing with each other. I stepped a bit closer and was shocked to see Bill laying at the edge of the parking lot and the woods that surround Merlotte's. He wasn't moving so I figured they had him chained with silver, which Godric had told me made vampires really weak and could restrain them easily.

They were draining Bill. It didn't take a genius to figure out they were going to kill him when they were done. I looked into Mack's mind and it was disturbing. He couldn't wait to get Bill's blood in him. He thought about the last vampire whose blood he had and I could see in his mind how they had drained him and then staked him. I couldn't let that happen to Bill.

I snuck up on Mack and I zapped him. He fell to his knees and dropped the knife he'd been holding. I picked up the knife just in time because a moment later Denise turned around and lunged at me.

Since I was holding the knife in front of me, I ended up cutting her arm. She let out a string of obscenities and a few things about how she was going to kill me. I took a step towards them and they backed away from me. Denise thought they could take me, but Mack refused. I had scared him with my sparks. He was dragging Denise towards their car and kept telling her that I was a witch and they shouldn't mess with me. Damn straight. Except the witch part. I wasn't a witch. Or maybe I was? Who knew.

Bill was still laying helplessly on the ground and I had to pull him in to the side when the Rats tried to run us over. I unchained him carefully, making sure I wasn't hurting him more than necessary. The silver didn't seem to have burnt him badly and the marks disappeared quickly.

"Thank you," he said and moved in to kiss me. I took a step back.

"No, Bill. I'm glad you weren't hurt, but I don't want to kiss you." Bill looked at me and I knew he was trying to get into my head. He had tried several times over the past weeks so he should have known by now that it didn't work on me.

"Don't you try to glamour me, Bill Compton. I said no."

"What are you?" he asked me. I had gotten that question quite a lot lately. I didn't know for sure, but Godric and I had talked about it and he had a couple of ideas. But he had told me to not tell anyone, because he thought that the more people knew about me and what I could do the more danger I would be in.

"I'm a waitress Bill, you know that."

Bill continued to stare, but he didn't say anything. I couldn't be sure whether he had seen what I had done to Mack, since I couldn't read his mind. But I really hoped he hadn't, because I didn't trust him. He was nice enough and really polite, but there was something about him that just made me uncomfortable. If the past couple of weeks had taught me anything, it was that I should listen to my gut feeling. It had been right about both Rene and Eric the night he attacked me, but I hadn't listened. I had let them both in. Well, no more.

"I should get back to work," I told Bill and walked back into Merlotte's.

The next night, I had just finished my shift and I was exhausted. It had been a busy night and I had barely had a moment's rest. It didn't help that I hadn't slept much last night, which made it harder to keep my shield up. I was walking to my car, talking to Godric on my cell. He was the reason I wasn't getting much sleep; not that I was complaining.

I had been seeing him ever since that night at Eric's and we had grown very close. I was crazy about him and wanted to spend as much time with him as our schedules allowed. He came over almost every night and when he couldn't come because of his duties at Fangtasia, he would call me whenever he had a chance. He wasn't happy about me getting into a fight with the Rattrays because of Bill and he had me promise me that if I ever did something like that again, I would call him first. I wasn't exactly planning to get into fights with drainers on a regular basis, so I told him yes.

I was just in the middle of telling him about our cook Lafayette and how he had stood up to some stupid bigots who'd been rude and obnoxious all night, when I heard a noise behind me. Before I had a chance to turn, someone hit me hard in the back of my head and I fell over, landing on the ground face first. I tried to stand up, but whoever it was kept kicking me over and over. Then I heard Denise say something and I realized it was the Rattrays. This was bad.

The Rattrays were thugs and they were killers. I had seen it in Mack's mind the night before, how they had slowly drained a vampire until he bled dry and then staked him. And that was just for money and V. With me, it was personal. It was all rage. Hoping that they would go easy on me would just be plain stupid. I had to do something otherwise they would kill me, there was no doubt about that. Since I was on my stomach, I tried to turn around so I could use my sparks on them, but the blows kept coming so fast I could hardly move.

Out of the corner of my eye I thought I caught a glimpse of someone standing at the edge of the woods, but then I got an especially hard kick to my ribs so my head jerked away. When I managed to look back to the spot, whoever it was had disappeared. Or maybe there hadn't been anyone there, just a desperate mirage my terrified brain had conjured up. It had to be, because who would watch a woman get kicked to death and not do anything about it?

I don't know how long the beating went on, because at some point I lost consciousness, for which I was extremely grateful. When I came to, the Rattrays were gone. Since I had a hard time opening my eyes, I had concluded this from the fact that no one was kicking me. This was good. On the other hand, I was in horrible pain and I was coughing up blood. That was not so good. I'm no doctor, but my first impression was that I was dying.

"Sookie," I heard a deep voice say. Could it be Godric? Could he have come to get me? I tried hard to open my eyes, which must have been swollen shut. When I finally managed to open them half-way I could see a blurred pale face really close to mine. I tried to blink and I heard Bill speak.

"Sookie, you are dying. I have a cure. You will heal. Quickly. But you have to be willing."

"No," I managed to whisper and a moment later something pressed against my lips. I instinctively clenched my jaw shut. I knew how vampires were made. They were drained and then their blood was replaced by vampire blood. Bill hadn't drained me, but I had probably lost so much blood that he might not have to. Maybe I wasn't thinking clearly, but I would rather die than become a vampire, especially the vampire child of Bill Compton.

I thought about Gran, how I would see her again soon. And my parents too. I hated to leave Jason all alone, but it couldn't be helped. I would miss him though. A lot. If that was an emotion you could feel where I was going. I wasn't sure of that. I wasn't sure of where I was going either, but I was hoping it was heaven.

And Godric, I would miss him so much. We had just met and now I was never going to see him again. I wished I could see him one last time, to tell him that I loved him and that I would never forget him. I would give anything to see his beautiful face one last time, to hear his wonderful voice just once more.

"Compton, get away from her," I heard someone say and it sounded just like Godric. A moment later his face was right above mine and it looked completely real. Wow, my brain was good. Was my dying brain conjuring up one last image of Godric? Or was it really him?

"Sookie, can you hear me?" he said and he sounded so serious. And worried. My imaginary Godric wouldn't be worried I thought. This was the real Godric. He was here with me.

"Sookie, this is important. Drink from me. My blood will heal you. But we don't have time, you have to do it now."

He held his wrist to my lips and this time my mouth completely relaxed. I was with Godric. Whatever happened, he was with me. I opened my mouth and latched on to the small wound.


	10. Chapter 10

_Thank you all so much for the reviews, I really enjoy reading them! To answer VAlady's question, this will definitely be a Godric/Sookie/Eric story, though I'm a little unsure of whether Eric and Sookie should also get together (with Godric's blessing of course) or if their relationship should remain platonic. Please let me know what you think, because right now it could go either way. I hope you enjoy this chapter!_

The moment my lips touched Godric's wrist I felt calm. If there was anything to be done about my situation, Godric would be the one to do it. And if not, then at least I got to see him one last time. I sucked at the wound slowly at first, but the more I swallowed the more I wanted. It tasted amazing, sweet and mild. The pain subsided as I drank and I started feeling better almost right away. Godric was stroking my hair with his free hand, looking at me with a small smile.

"Drink as much as you need, Sweetheart. You'll be fine, I promise."

After a few minutes I stopped drinking and he picked me up and carried me over to the car. Eric was in the driver seat. He turned around to look at me as Godric helped me into the back seat.

"Sookie, Sookie – you're so much trouble," he said. There was a big smirk on his face and he didn't look like he really minded.

"Sorry, Eric. Thanks for coming to get me," I said.

"Anytime, Miss Stackhouse, anytime," he chuckled and started the car.

Godric put his arm around me and I felt so safe and loved. I hadn't felt like this since I was a little girl, since before my parents died.

"Thank you," I whispered to Godric. "Thank you for saving my life." Godric just smiled and leaned down to kiss me.

I spent the rest of the long drive to Shreveport drifting in and out of sleep. At some point I thought I heard some strange noises coming from the trunk of the car, but before I could figure out what it was I was out again.

When I woke up the next day I was laying next to Godric in his bed. He was still out for the day. I was wearing Godric's t-shirt, which made me smile. I loved having his scent on me. I was feeling so much better, thanks to him. Last night I'd been dying and today I felt stronger and healthier than ever. It was amazing!

I was working again today, but before I'd fallen asleep last night Godric had made me promise not to go home while he was still dead for the day. I thought he was being a bit overprotective, but I would do as he asked anyway. It would be stupid not to listen to him, he'd managed to stay alive for 2000 years, so his survival instincts must be pretty good.

I looked around the room and could see my clothes and my purse on a chair in the corner. Godric must have found it last night and brought it home with us. I was silently thanking my wonderful boyfriend for yet another thoughtful act. If I'd lost my purse I would have had to cancel my card and change the locks of my house. Godric had just saved me a lot of trouble. Not to mention my life.

I got out of bed and went over to my purse, hoping that Godric had found my phone too. It had been knocked out of my hand when the Rats hit me, but it couldn't have fallen too far from my purse. I rifled around in it for a while and finally I found it. I dialled Arlene's number, mentally preparing myself for begging her to take my shift. She had the day off today, so she wouldn't be happy, but I was always covering for her so if I asked really nicely she would say yes.

"Hey Arlene, how are you? Listen, I need to ask you for a favor."

"You want me to take your shift?" she asked. Sometimes I wondered if I was really the only telepath around.

"Yes," I said " I didn't get home last night and I.."

"Oh, Sookie, finally! How was it?" Arlene squealed into the phone.

"What do you mean?"

"Bill, how was he? Is it true that vampires are better lovers? Not that you have anyone to compare him to, but how was it?"

Ok, this was weird. Why would she think I had slept with Bill?

"Arlene, no. I didn't. Eww. I barely know Bill. Why would you even think that?"

"He left right after you. Was in a real hurry to pay his bill and leave. I figured it was because he wanted to catch up with you. Sookie, everyone knows he has a thing for you. So when you said you weren't home last night, I figured you spent the night at Bill's."

I told Arlene I was in Shreveport and I didn't have my car. I didn't go into what happened last night and though she was really curious she didn't press me on it. She agreed to take my shift and I thanked her profusely, another good word of the day.

I hung up the phone and got back into bed next to Godric. I looked at him sleeping and I couldn't help but smile. He looked so peaceful and so sweet. Just like the first night I had woken up next to him, I couldn't resist kissing him. I leaned over him and kissed first his left cheek and then his right.

I just lingered there, enjoying being so close to him. Finally I moved my lips over his and I kissed him. I loved the feel of his lips, they were so soft. I was getting lost in the wonderful feeling of being close to Godric, when suddenly he opened his eyes. He smiled that big beautiful smile of his and I blushed.

"Ah sorry, I didn't mean to wake you. I just wanted to...," I mumbled, all embarrassed.

"Sookie, I can't imagine a more beautiful sight to wake up to." He put his arms around me and pulled me closer to him. We lay like that for a few minutes, cuddling and kissing. It was such a wonderful feeling, I could stay like this the whole night.

"Sookie, I need to tell you something. About my blood. You need to know how it will affect you." I nodded and snuggled closer to him.

"Having my blood in you means that I can sense where you are from far away. If you are ever in trouble I can find you quickly."

Well, considering how much trouble I'd been in lately that sure could come in handy.

"I will also be able to feel your emotions," Godric said, looking at me cautiously.

"Really? You can tell what I'm feeling?"

He nodded.

"So what am I feeling?"

"Just now, surprise. But mostly contentment. And something else," he said and brushed a few strands of hair from my face.

Oh. I blushed furiously. I couldn't help it, kissing him had gotten me all excited and now he knew. Just because I'd never done it before didn't mean I didn't have urges. Trust me, I have urges. Especially around Godric.

"Don't be embarassed, Sookie. It's completely natural. And I'm very flattered you feel that way. I feel that way too," he smiled.

"Oh. Really? Wow.." Yup. Eloquent Sookie strikes again.

Godric chuckled and I decided to change the subject quickly.

"I don't have to go to work after all," I told him. "I called Arlene and she'll cover for me. But she said something that made me think. She said that Bill left Merlotte's right after me. If he did, how come the Rats managed to beat on me for so long? Wouldn't he have seen it right away and helped me? Where was he?"

"Bill is a procurer," Godric said quietly. He must have seen from my expression that I had no idea what that meant or how that answered my questions because he continued quickly. "He works for the Queen."

I knew about Sophie-Ann, the Queen of Louisiana from one of our many talks. Godric had told me about the vampire hierarchy and about their rules and customs. He thought that since I spent so much time with him it was important that I know about how his world worked.

"What does a procurer do?" I asked him, temporarily side-tracked from my own line of thought about Bill.

"He gets the Queen whatever she wants," Godric answered.

"So he's like a personal shopper for Sophie-Ann?" I asked him and giggled. I could just picture Bill picking out ball-gowns and matching shoes and purses for the Queen.

"Not exactly," Godric said and looked me apprehensively. "He procures humans".

Oh. I really didn't like sound of that.

"Procures humans? For what?"

"Mostly meals. Before the great revelation this was important task, since it was crucial to not attract too much attention. One had to be careful that not too many people disappeared from one place at the same time, which would be difficult when the Queen was hosting events and needed many humans at once. Nowadays I would think it's much easier, since there are many willing humans. But he still has to screen them for diseases and taste, I imagine."

But of course. The Queen of Louisiana wouldn't want to snack on just any old human.

Godric was just looking at me, waiting for it to sink it. Oh. Oh!

"Wait, what? You think that's why he's been so friendly with me? He wants to procure me for the Queen?"

I was livid. That conniving son of a bitch! He was going to feed me to the Queen the way people feed live mice to their pet snakes. Well, this mouse wasn't having any of that.

"How? How would a procurer go about getting a human?" I asked Godric. I had a hunch and it was a really bad one.

"With a willing blood donor, he would only need to make practical arrangements like compensation and screening of the blood. For someone much more valuable like you, I imagine he would choose a different approach. Especially since you can't be glamoured."

Godric paused for a moment, looking at me intently. His expression didn't change, but I realized something was different about him. When he continued, his voice was strained.

"He would probably befriend you, get close to you. He would find a way to bind you to him. He would most likely try to get his blood in you. First he would try to do it voluntarily, through lovemaking most likely. If that didn't work he would find another way."

"Like letting me get beaten within an inch of my life, then pretending to save me?"

"Yes."

I knew it! That bastard!

"I saw someone in the shadows while the Rats were beating me. I couldn't see who it was and I figured I was just imagining it. But now with what Arlene said and what you just told me, I think it was Bill."

"Yes. I think so too, Sookie."

I had to take a deep breath to calm myself. I was so mad, there were tears running down my face.

"He set me up. He allowed himself to be subdued by the Rats so that I would save him, knowing that they would be furious and would try to get revenge later. He let me almost die so that he could get his blood in me!"

Godric nodded. The calm that always radiated from him was gone. I realized he was just as furious as I was.

I got up and started gathering my clothes in a rage. They were bloody and dirty and gross, so I wasn't looking forward to putting them back on. But I had more important things to do than worry about my appearance.

"Sookie, where are you going?"

"I'm going to Bon Temps, that's where I'm going. I'm going to give Bill Compton a piece of my mind!"

"Sookie, wait. There is more." Godric said. He took my clothes away and led me back to the bed.

"There is more? That's just great," I fumed, but I sat down next to him.

"I don't think it's a coincidence that he came for you. Why would he come all the way to Bon Temps for a blood donor, when there are many willing donors in New Orleans?" He was still holding my hand, stroking it gently, trying to calm me.

"I don't think that's why the Queen wants you. I think she wants you for your telepathy."

"It doesn't matter why she wants me, it only matters that that horrid man has been skulking around Bon Temps for weeks, being all nice to me when all he wants is to deliver me to the Queen!"

"It does matter, Sookie. It matters because it means that she knows about your gift."

Oh. Good point. How the hell does the vampire queen of Louisiana know about a telepathic waitress in Bon Temps?

"And if she knows, others might know too. You could be in grave danger, Sookie. Telepaths are very rare. Having one in one's employ would be highly useful."

"Well, she can forget it. If she couldn't just ask me nicely if I wanted to work for her then she can just forget it." I huffed.

"Sookie, it doesn't work like that." Godric looked at me like he was about to tell me that my kitten had just died.

"The Queen doesn't ask nicely. She could just take you, threaten your family and friends if you didn't cooperate. She could bind you to her by blood. And she could turn you, make you her vampire child. Then you would not be able to disobey her. And she would have you forever. So for now, it would be best if you stayed here. Returning to Bon Temps could be dangerous."

"And you won't find Compton in Bon Temps anyway," I heard a voice say from behind me and I turned around. Eric had somehow managed to come into the room without a sound and now he was leaning against the wall, the picture of nonchalance.

"I gave him to Pam to play with. She's been complaining lately about the lack of violence in her life. Compton should keep her entertained for a while."

I really didn't want to think about what that meant.

"Godric, it's obvious what you have to do," Eric continued.

I looked from one vampire to another. Godric was scowling, which was not a look I'd seen on his face before. Eric looked unrepentant.

"What? What should he do? Tell me," I demanded.

"Leave us," Godric said and Eric sauntered out of the room.


	11. Chapter 11

_Thank you so much for the reviews and for letting me know how you'd like to see the story develop!_

"So what does Eric think you should do?" I asked Godric.

He leaned back on the bed and pulled me into his arms.

"It doesn't matter, Sookie. I'm not going to do it," he whispered and kissed my head.

"Ok, but tell me anyway."

Godric sighed in response. For a being who didn't breathe and barely changed facial expressions, this was a pretty big show of emotion.

"He thinks I should bond with you."

I didn't know what that meant, but it didn't sound so bad to me.

"How would we do that?" I asked. Being around vampires sure raised a lot of questions.

"We would exchange blood a number of times. After that our lives would be irrevocably tied together forever. It's the strongest bond a vampire can form apart from the one between a maker and a child. Nothing can break it except death. If we were bonded my claim on you would be undisputable. Neither the Queen nor anyone else would be able to take you from me."

I felt like someone had just stabbed me. Godric didn't want to bond with me.

He didn't want to be tied to me for the rest of my life. Of course he didn't; I would age and die and he would remain exactly as he was today. I understood why he would feel that way, but it still hurt me to my core.

I'd been so happy in the present that I hadn't thought about the future at all. I had just assumed that we would stay together, but now I realized it wasn't as simple as that. We weren't going to grow old together. While I became sickly and frail and old, he would remain looking like a teenager, in perfect health and nearly invincible.

I hid my face against Godric's chest so he wouldn't see me cry, but he must have felt my hurt and disappointment, because he carefully turned my face towards him.

"Oh, Sookie," he said and gently brushed the tears away.

"No, it's ok." I said. "I understand. I just hadn't thought it through, that's all. I thought we might stay together for a long time, but I realize now that's not possible. You will always stay like this and I will grow old. It doesn't make sense for you to want a long-term relationship with me, I just hadn't really thought about it, I'm sorry."

"Sookie, I would love nothing more than to bond with you."

Oh.

"If it were up to me we would do it tonight, but I cannot do that to you. It would change your life in ways you cannot imagine. Nothing would make me happier than you deciding to bond with me. But I want to make sure you fully understand what it means before we do it. I don't want you to make a rushed decision now that you might regret for the rest of your life. I can keep you safe without the bond. It's much too soon for you to make a commitment like this, Sookie."

I knew he was right. And I knew that I shouldn't take it as rejection, but a part of couldn't help to feel that way anyway.

"Sookie, look at me," Godric whispered and held my face in his hands.

"You are the most amazing thing to happen to me in a thousand years. I thought there were no reasons left to live and you changed that by your mere presence. You have made me excited about life again in a way I haven't been for many centuries. Because of you I look forward to every new night; the first thing I think of when I wake is that I will get to see you, talk to you, be close to you. Sookie, I love you."

Godric looked into my eyes and I smiled. I knew he meant every word. We would take things slowly and if it came to that, we would bond. But for now I would love Godric the way he deserved to be.

"I love you too," I whispered into his ear. "I just want to be with you."

"That's all that matters, Sookie. Everything else we can figure out as it comes."

He pulled me closer to him and kissed me. I closed my eyes and try to savour every second. His lips on mine, insistent yet so gentle. His hands started stroking me, gently at first but growing more insistent as my body started responding to his touch.

I couldn't help but join in, letting my hands explore Godric's body, stroking his chest, his nipples and down to his stomach.

When I reached the top of his boxers, Godric hand moved over mine and stopped me.

"Sookie, I need to tell you something." He looked like he was about to tell me a big secret. This couldn't be good.

I looked at him expectantly and he continued. "You know how I told you that when a human takes a vampire's blood, it does things to them."

"I know. It saved my life."

"Yes. But there is one thing I haven't mentioned yet." If I didn't know better I'd say that Godric looked downright nervous.

"Taking our blood makes the human attracted to the vampire. Sexually." Godric paused for a moment, looking at me intently.

"So you might only want to make love to me now because you've had my blood. I don't want you to do something you'll regret later just because you're under the influence of my blood."

I know it wasn't polite, but I burst out laughing.

"Godric, I've wanted to make love to you since the first time we kissed. It has nothing to do with your blood. I'm crazy in love with you and I can't wait to make love to you," I giggled. It wasn't like me to be so direct, but why not for once? I'd waited 25 years to do this, so I might as well be honest about what I wanted. And I wanted Godric.

Godric just smiled that beautiful smile of his and we continued where we'd left off, kissing and touching for a long while. Finally I stopped.

"Godric, I have to tell you something too." Now it was my turn to look nervous.

"I've never done this before."

"I know, Sookie. Don't worry. It won't hurt, I promise," he said and continued trailing kisses down my neck. His fingers followed as he slowly traced them down my body, from my neck and down my chest until he finally reached my breast. He touched my nipple and my breath caught.

"Is this ok, Sookie?"

Oh yes, more than ok thank you very much. I nodded, hoping he would continue. He did.

His hands found their way behind my back and a moment later my bra was gone.

"So beautiful," I heard Godric say, but then his thumb started stroking my nipple and all coherent thought left me. Every now and then his fingers would join in, pinching slightly, not enough to hurt, but enough for me to really feel it lower down.

His other hand started doing the same to my left nipple, while his right hand trailed down from my breast, over my ribs and down to my stomach. Godric leaned over and kissed me while his hands continued the wonderful things they were doing.

"Sookie, you know that you can tell me to stop any time, right?" Godric asked me.

Uh-huh, so not going to happen.

"This feels wonderful, please don't stop," I murmured and was pleased with my ability to string those words together. A few more minutes of this and I wouldn't be able to, I was sure of it.

Godric smiled and kissed me again and then I felt his hand slipping under my panties.

"Sookie, look at me," Godric commanded. I did and in the same moment I felt a finger slip in. Oh god, that felt wonderful.

My breathing was getting heavier and I felt like I was going to melt into the sheets.

"Do you like this, Sookie?" Godric whispered into my ear.

"Yes, yes, yes. Oh god, please don't stop. Yes. I do. Please." Maybe not my most eloquent moment, but at least I got my point across. Godric just chuckled. God I loved when he did that.

He tugged my panties off while my hips continued to grind against his hand. I felt a third finger inside me, widening me, making me ready for him. I couldn't wait another second or I was going to explode.

"Please Godric, I want you. Inside of me. Please," I begged him.

"So impatient, little one" he smiled and kissed me again. I reached out for him, pulling him towards me.

A second later, his boxers were off and he was on top of me. One moment my body ached at the loss of him and the next I felt him sliding inside me. I was so wet already that he entered me easily and then he was past my barrier. He lived up to his promise, it didn't hurt at all. I was so lost in the moment, all I could feel was the intense pleasure that was building in me with every move of his body in mine.

Suddenly his fangs slid out and seeing them excited me even more. They sometimes came out when we kissed and I'd grown to love the sight of them. Godric had never bitten me though. Maybe this was the night to change that. I brushed my hair away and turned my neck slightly.

"Sookie, are you sure?"

"Yes, I want you to."

Godric bent down and kissed my neck softly. I closed my eyes and braced for the pain, but it never came.

Instead the moment Godric's fangs pierced my skin wave after wave of the most intense sensation I've ever felt washed over me. My body arched off the bed and I openend my eyes just as Godric had his own moment.

I collapsed on the bed, a big grin on my face. Now I got what all the fuss was about, this was absolutely amazing!

"That was wonderful! Can we do it again?" I grinned and snuggled up to Godric.

Hey, I'd waited 25 years for this, I had some catching up to do.

And for the next hour, that's exactly what I did.


	12. Chapter 12

_I finally had some time to write, so here's the next chapter. To answer VAlady's question, I know it's confusing that it's listed as an Eric and Sookie story, but the thing is FF doesn't allow for more than two characters to be listed. So I had to choose between Eric and Godric and the reason I chose Eric is that I knew that Godric would be featured more prominently than Eric in the beginning of the story and I wanted people to know that Eric would be a large part of the story as well even though it doesn't seem like that in the beginning. So this is definitely a Sookie/Eric/Godric story. And actually in the coming chapters we'll see a lot more of Eric and a lot less of Godric..  
__Oh and the last chapter was the first one with lemons in it, and I got a lot less comments this time than I usually get which leads me to conclude that you don't like lemons, should I stop writing them..?:)_

I left Godric's room to get some water, hoping that Eric hadn't been home to hear us. No such luck. Eric was sitting in the living room working on his computer when I walked through on my way to the kitchen. He looked up at me and smirked.

"Has our little virgin been deflowered?" he asked.

The Viking. Subtle as always.

I could feel my cheeks start to burn when Godric's arms wrapped around me from behind. He didn't say anything, but he must have given Eric a look, because the next moment Eric shrugged, smirk still in place, and turned back to his computer.

"Eric, I think our assumptions were correct. I need to go see him."

"See who?" I asked. I hated it when they talked over my head like that.

"Sookie, I can't tell you just yet. I don't know enough to be sure, so I need to talk to someone. Once I know, I will tell you everything, ok?"

Not really, but it didn't seem like I had much of a choice.

"Ok, I guess. Will you be gone long?"

"A few days at most. Sookie, I need you to do something for me. Call your boss and tell him you won't be working the next few days. I need you to stay here with Eric. Can you do that for me?"

The short answer would be no.

"Godric, that's crazy. I can't miss work for that long, I have bills to pay."

"I can give you money, don't worry about that."

What did he think I was? We'd slept together once and he was offering me money?

"I don't know what you're thinking, but I'm not that kind of a woman. I don't want your money. I'm going home," I yelled. I started walking towards Godric's bedroom to get my things, but he stopped me.

"Sookie, I apologize. I didn't mean to upset you. But you have to understand that things have changed. Your life will be in danger if you go back to Bon Temps. I can't let you go. I will find a solution to this, but until then please trust me and do as I say. Please."

Eric, who had been watching us from the couch, got up and walked over to us.

"Sookie, you know we have Bill?"

I nodded.

"Well, Pam finally got him to talk."

I couldn't imagine how she had gotten him to talk, but I was sure it hadn't been pleasant.

"The Queen wants you at all cost. We don't think she knows yet that we have Bill and that he has failed her, but she is likely to find out soon. She will send someone else after you, Sookie. And if they fail, she will send others. She won't stop until you belong to her."

Fear washed over me, closely followed by anger. Who was this Sophie-Ann to think that she could just take me?

"Sookie, I need to go to Fangtasia with Eric. Will you join us?"

"I don't have any clothes, remember? They're all dirty and gross. Even if I stay here I have to go home and get some clothes." All I had was what I was wearing, Godric's shirt and the underwear that it barely covered.

Eric just smirked and pointed to some fancy bags on one of the chairs.

"Pam got those for you. Between Bill and shopping, you've made her very happy."

Yup, that's me. Making vampires happy is what I do.

I showered and got dressed. Pam had really outdone herself. She'd gotten me everything from underwear to jeans to three really pretty dresses. She had gotten my size exactly right and although the clothes were nicer and probably much more expensive than what I normally wear, they were things I could easily have chosen for myself if I could afford it. She'd even added a few pairs of shoes and a small bag with toiletries and make-up. I had to remember to thank her next time I saw her.

When I was ready I went back out into the living-room where Godric and Eric were waiting for me.

"Godric, I have to tell you something," I told him. I wanted to let him know about my sparks, so he'd know that I could defend myself. I couldn't quite control them yet, true, but every time I'd been in trouble lately the sparks had appeared.

Just then Godric's phone rang and he started giving what sounded like orders to the person on the other line.

He was still on the phone when he and Eric ushered me out of the house and into the car. After a short ride we arrived at Fangtasia and I got out of the car. I'd only been there twice, the night I met Godric and the night after. I wondered if it would still appear as strange and intimidating to me as it did back then. Probably not. Now I knew so much more about how the vampire world worked. Not to mention that I was dating one of the oldest vampires around and staying at another one's house.

I was just thinking about how much my life had changed the past couple of months when all of a sudden Godric grabbed me and shoved me behind him. I'd been so lost in my own thoughts that I hadn't noticed them as I got out of the car. In front of us were eight of the biggest, burliest men I'd ever seen. My shields were down from being with vampires so I got into their minds quickly. Their brains were different from humans, but they weren't vampires. I could pick up some thoughts and emotions from them, just not as clearly as with humans. They reminded me of Sam's mind; they must be shifters. What I got from them was aggression and determination. And it was directed at me.


	13. Chapter 13

One of the men lunged at me, and in a movement that was too quick for me to really see, Godric slit his throat with a quick swipe of his hand. The man fell to the ground, his head partially seperated from his neck. Some of the others started to shimmer and a moment later three massive wolves were snarling at us. They growled and attacked Godric and Eric who had formed a wall in front of me.

The other men didn't change, maybe they were bitten weres, not born. Sam had told me that born shifters could change at will, but those who had been bitten could only change at the full moon. Not that it really mattered, they looked menacing enough in their human forms.

Godric and Eric moved swiftly and decisively, but they were massively outnumbered. Suddenly one of the weres managed to get close to Godric and bit him in the arm. I saw him spit out a large chunk of his flesh and I just lost it. I could feel an overwhelming rage build in me and my hands were on fire. I directed them at the were, hoping I wouldn't hit Godric in the process.

The sparks hit the were with a lound thud and then he was on the ground. I moved closer to him and held my hands over his head and he convulsed as my sparks hit him. It was just like it'd been with Rene, except this time I wasn't surprised or confused. I was really, really angry. If this pathetic exuse of a man thought he could hurt the man I love, he had another thing coming.

I stood there for what must have been minutes, entirely concentrated on the were. When I was sure he was incapacitated, I slowly directed my hands towards the ground, still watching him closely to make sure he wouldn't attack.

When I finally looked up, I saw Eric and Godric staring at me. The Weres were scattered around them on the ground, most likely all dead or dying.

For a tense second, noone spoke.

"Sookie, Sookie, you are full of surprises," Eric finally said.

Godric remained quiet and I was starting to worry that he was upset with me for not telling him.

"You said you had no other gifts," he said in a low, level voice.

Yup, he was upset.

"I didn't. The first time this happened was after you asked me, when Rene attacked me. I tried to tell you tonight, but you got distracted. It's not like I was hiding it from you. This is new to me too, you know." If I sounded a bit annoyed, it was because I was. We'd just been been attacked by weres and now Godric was mad at me. And I had gotten blood all over the pretty new dress Pam had gotten me. She wouldn't be happy.

Finally Godric's expression softened. He pulled me to him and kissed my forehead lightly. "It's a very useful skill to have, Sookie. The ability to defend yourself like that is invaluable."

Just then I heard a loud growl behind me and Godric flung me from his arms into Eric's. I guess my sparks hadn't killed the were and now he was trying to kill me. Great.

Godric had him by the throat instantly and a second later he was dead.

"Let's go," Eric said and grabbed my hand. He walked us quickly to the back entrace of Fangtasia and into his office, Godric following closely behind us.

Once we were inside Eric sent Pam and Chow to clear the parking lot of the bodies and he dispatched a waitress to get us drinks; True Bloods for them and a gin & tonic for me.

They both stared at me when I took a sip, as if they thought I would burst into flames.

"What?" I asked them, a little annoyed with the staring. I know it was a very long time ago, but their mothers must have taught them that it's rude to stare.

"Nothing, Sweetheart" Godric answered. "How is your drink?"

"It's fine," I shrugged. "Maybe a bit too much lime, but otherwise good."

Godric and Eric started speaking heatedly in another language, which was kind of rude, I thought.

I cleared my throat. They got the hint and switched back to English.

"It's unfortunate we killed them all. It would have been useful to get one of them alive. Did you get anything from their minds?" Eric asked me.

"No, nothing useful. I can't really read weres and other supes clearly. I mostly get emotions from them, their minds are kind of a blur."

Godric and Eric both stared at me like I had two heads.

"You know about other supes, Sookie?" Godric asked me.

"Sure I do," I answered innocently. Then I didn't say anything else. I could be as cryptic as a vampire any day.

"It's even more imperative now that you stay with Eric," Godric told me.

I just nodded. I'd just been attacked by eight huge werewolves; I was obviously in a lot more trouble than I'd thought. If an ancient Viking warrior wanted to protect me that was just fine by me.

"There's another thing I'd like to ask of you, Sookie," Godric said and came over to where I was sitting. He bent down to face me and took my hand in his. "I would like you to take Eric's blood."

I just stared at him, stunned.

"Remember when we talked about the side effects of taking my blood?"

I nodded. I really enjoyed the side effects. It'd just been a day and already I felt stronger and healthier than ever, my skin was flawless and my senses were heightened. Godric could sense me over long distances, which could come in handy if something happened to me and he had to come help me. He could also sense my emotions.

That made sense. If I had Eric's blood he would know when I was in trouble, which seem to be happening with increasing frequency these days. With Godric going away, that could be really useful.

Godric had also told me that his blood would make me attracted to him, but I was attracted to him long before I had his blood, so that didn't really matter. Oh. Oh!

"Wait, I'm going to be attracted to Eric?"

Eric cocked an eyebrow. "Going to? Sookie, Sookie you are confusing your tenses."

I made a face at him that probably didn't make me look too good.

"Godric, seriously. You want me to be attracted to Eric?"

"I want you to be safe, Sookie. And this is the best way to keep you safe."

* * *

_So what do you think, should Sookie take Eric's blood or not?_


	14. Chapter 14

**I'm so sorry this chapter has taken forever, sometimes real life gets in the way. Thank you so much for all your comments, I'm so happy you are enjoying this story. Oh and Kerriki: you and me both:)**

"Godric, no! This is too much, too soon. I've already said I'll stay with Eric, that'll have to do. I'm not going to take his blood!"

Godric's face was expressionless, but I swear I saw something close to hurt on Eric's.

I knew that vampires rarely gave their blood to humans, so Eric was offering me a great gift. Turning it down was probably very rude, but I simply couldn't do it. I felt bad about hurting his feelings though, so I tried to explain.

"Eric, I'm really honored that you would offer. I'm so grateful for what you've done for me and what you're willing to do. But it's just such a huge step and I've had too many of those lately. So please don't ask me to do something I'm really not ready for."

They both turned to each other and I swear they were having a silent conversation. Finally Godric looked at me.

"You're right, Sookie. There have been so many changes in your life lately it must be overwhelming. I won't ask any more of you. You staying with Eric will be enough for now."

With that settled, we left Eric's office and went into the bar. Eric had work to do and Godric needed to make arrangements for his trip, so I sat down for another drink. Pam came over to chat a little, but mostly I sat by myself, sipping my second gin and tonic.

I was getting a little bored, so I let my shield down. People's thoughts weren't exactly interesting, mostly they were about sex. A lot of them were about sex with Eric or Godric or both. I can't say I was happy about that, but I couldn't blame them. They're both very handsome men and it's not as if anyone knew they belonged to me.

I picked up the thoughts of a couple of under-aged college kids who'd gotten in with fake ids. I knew the bar was raided on a regular basis, with the authorities looking for an excuse to shut it down. The bar was important to Eric, so I didn't want that to happen. I went up to Pam and told her and a minute later they were asked to leave.

There were no other interesting thoughts after that and I was getting tired and about to put my shield back up when I heard them. There were two distinct thought patterns, but they were thinking about the same thing. They were both thinking about draining a vampire.

I couldn't tell who they were, but from their thoughts I knew they were sitting with a female vampire. She was a young vampire, so they figured she would be weaker and easier to subdue . They were pretending to be fangbangers; they planned to lure her to their car with the promise of sex and feeding and once there they would trap her with silver chains. They'd done this before, I saw several female vampires in their minds, all drained and eventually staked. They seemed to prey on the young and inexperienced and it just made me sick. I couldn't let them go through with their horrific plans.

I looked for Eric and saw him sitting up on the stage, managing to look both intimidating and bored at the same time. I walked up to him and with one sudden move he pulled me onto his lap.

"What can I do for you, lover?" he whispered in my ear.

"What did you just call me?"

"I was just thinking of the things I will do to you when you finally yield to me. You will be my lover eventually, so from now on that is what I will call you."

If it'd been anyone else it would have just been sleazy, but coming from Eric - his tongue firmly in cheek - it was kind of funny and endearing. I wasn't about to let him know that I thought that though.

"Just call me Sookie, Eric," I said, trying to sound unamused. "I have something important to tell you."

I told him what I'd heard and he took my hand and led me through the crowd.

"Show me who you saw, Sookie," Eric whispered in my ear and I tried to look for the faces I'd seen in the men's minds.

I finally saw them, hidden away in a booth close to the exit. I nodded towards them and Eric let go of my hand.

"Go to Pam," he said. "Stay with her until Godric or I come for you."

Pam was at the door, carding people and scaring the hell out of them. I wasn't sure which was considered her more important task, but I suspected it was the latter. It was part of what drew people to Fangtasia, Eric had told me.

"Hi Pam," I said and plopped down on a chair next to where she was standing. "Eric wants you to babysit me while he deals with something. Can I help out here?"

She just flashed a fangy smile and I took that as a yes.

I stamped people's hands while Pam checked IDs. I also read their minds, but apart from a couple of underage kids, there was nothing that caught my attention.

I sat there for a long time, just working and enjoying Pam's company. As intimidating as she'd been the first couple of times I'd met her, she'd really grown on me. She was funny and clever and very different from any of the women I worked with at Merlotte's.

Pam was just in the middle of scaring some tourists from Iowa when Eric came over, put his arm around me and walked me towards his office.

"Sookie, you just made most valuable employee of the month," he said with a big grin on his face. "I have a proposition for you. You said you needed to work while Godric is away?"

"Yes." I had a feeling where this was going, but I let him continue.

"I want you to work for me. It will be very difficult to protect you if you go back to Bon Temps every day. If you work here at Fangtasia, Pam and I can keep an eye on you at all times. And you have proven to be a very useful employee."

"I will pay you three times what the shifter pays. And we have excellent health insurance for the humans," he added.

Good to know. The way things were going that could come in handy.

"Ok. But only while Godric is gone. When he comes back I go back to Merlotte's".

Godric joined us in Eric's office soon after and he was smiling broadly as he looked at us. I was pretty sure he knew what had just happenend, and I wouldn't have been too surprised if it turned out to have been his idea.

"Are you ready to go home?" he asked and I nodded.

We were both quiet during the drive home. I had a lot on my mind and maybe Godric did too. It's hard to tell with him, because he's always so calm and quiet.

The moment we were inside the house I reached for him, pulling his shirt over his head. I'd waited all night for this, and I couldn't wait one second longer. I put my arms around Godric neck, and a second later I had my legs wrapped around his waist.

"Why don't you take me to the bedroom and let me have my way with you?" I whispered into Godric's ear. He didn't answer but a moment later I was laying on our bed, doing exactly that.

When we were both sated I turned to him and traced my fingers across his chest.

"So, Godric. Do you have any nicknames? Maybe I should call you God. You know, short for Godric," I giggled. Godric just smiled. God, I loved it when that man smiled. He was so beautiful. And so mine. I told him as much and he pulled me to him and gave me a long, wonderful kiss that left me breathless. I fell asleep soon after and didn't wake up until almost 3 o'clock the next day. Being with Godric really messed with my sleep patterns, but I didn't mind. Falling asleep with him next to me and waking up to his beautiful smile was worth it.

After I showered and got dressed I went down Eric's library, which was a large room with bookshelfs lining the walls all the way up to the high ceiling. I could get lost in Eric's vast collection and spent a long time looking through it. He had all sorts of books in different languages and a lot of them were first editions, some of them really old and really beautiful. When I finally managed to pick one, I curled up in one of the over-sized chairs and read until Godric woke up and distracted me. Did I mention that I really enjoy being distracted by Godric? He had taken my place on the chair and had me on his lap, doing things to me that a librarian would probably not approve of.

"I see you are enjoying my library, Sookie" I heard Eric say behind me and I blushed. I wasn't exactly fully dressed anymore, but it didn't seem to bother Eric. Or Godric for that matter. I guess vampires have a slightly different attitude to sex and nudity than what I'm used to.

Godric helped put me to rights and we went into the living room, Eric and him talking in another language, which Godric had told me was Swedish. He was getting ready to leave for his trip and I was going to Fangtasia with Eric.

Godric had his arm around me as he walked me to Eric's car. He gave me a long kiss, before I had to reluctantly get in the car. I stared out the window as we drove away, watching Godric as he slowly disappeared from my view.


	15. Chapter 15

Eric and I spent an uneventful night at Fangtasia, which was always better than an eventful one, since those tended to revolve around someone trying to kill me.

Felicia, the vampire I'd saved from draining, came up to me as we arrived and thanked me profusely. She even hugged me, which was unusual behavior for a vampire. The other vampires in attendance knew about what had happened, and my standing amongst the vampires seemed to have increased quite a lot, which was good since I was going to spend a lot of time around them.

Eric did his usual sitting-around-looking-irresistible-and-deadly routine, and Pam scared tourists as per her job description. I did my job, which was mainly sitting with Pam or Eric and listening in on people's thoughts.

After closing Eric took me home, and we spent the rest of the night watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer, which I'd gotten as a gift from my friend Tara a long time ago. Eric thought it was hilarious and I think he had a thing for Buffy.

We both went to bed as dawn neared and I woke up at 3 pm. I showered and dressed and puttered around the house until Eric woke up. Once he joined me in the living room I decided to bring up something I'd been thinking of since last night.

"Eric?"

"Yes, lover?"

"Since I keep getting attacked, maybe I should learn to fight?"

Eric burst out laughing and put his arm around me.

"Has someone developed a Buffy complex?" he smirked.

"It just seems like I'm in a lot of trouble lately and I should learn to defend myself. My sparks are great, but I can't really control them and sometimes they don't work. I should know how to fight. Will you teach me?"

"I would be honored, lover."

We agreed my training would be split into three parts; hand to hand combat, sword-fighting and practicing my sparks.

The next few days went quickly as Eric and I settled into a routine. We would train after we woke, then we'd go to Fangtasia for most of the night and when we got home we'd watch tv or just talk. I really enjoyed Eric's company, he was fun to be around and he was always making me laugh.

He was a tough coach, pushing me hard, but I was making a lot of progress so it was worth it. The hardest part were my sparks, since Eric didn't know much about them, so he couldn't teach me the same way as he could with the other stuff.

Since the sparks had appeared when I was scared and angry, we figured those two emotions triggered them and we had to find a way for me to use them regardless of what I was feeling.

We spent days practicing, with mixed results. Half the time the sparks wouldn't appear and often when they did they were so mild they couldn't hurt a fly. I was getting frustrated and Eric was getting really impatient.

"Damn it, Sookie, you're not even trying," he scolded me during a particularly gruelling session.

I pointed my hands at Eric and concentrated as hard as I could. I could feel the heat in my hands and saw my sparks hit Eric. He was thrown half-way across the room and crashed into the wall with a loud thud.

"Whoa," he said with a big grin as he picked himself up from the floor.

"Remind me never to get in a fight with you, lover."

After that I kept getting better, learning both to make the sparks appear on command as well as to regulate their strength.

I put my new-found skill to good use one night as Eric and I were on our way home from Fangtasia. I was in the parking lot talking to Pam, who was in the middle of a story about her newest girlfriend.

"Let's go, Sparky," Eric said as he headed towards his car. I was getting a little sick of him teasing me so I pointed my hands towards the hood of the Corvette.

"I wonder if I could blow up the engine," I said with the sweetest smile on my face. Eric's usual vampire poker-face vanished and was replaced by a mixture of shock and fear.

I looked at him innocently and my smile grew wider.

"What do you think, Viking?" I asked him. Pam snickered beside me.

That was the last time Eric teased me about my sparks.

We went home and watched a movie. It couldn't have been too interesting, because halfway through I fell asleep. When I woke up, I had my head in Eric's lap and he was stroking my hair. I enjoyed the feeling for a little while, until I was awake enough for my conscience to kick in. I thought of Godric and sat up. Eric put his arm around me and leaned in to kiss me.

"Don't, Eric. I love Godric, I'm not going to cheat on him."

"It's only cheating if the other person doesn't know or doesn't approve. That is not the case with us."

"What are you saying, that Godric knew this would happen? That he's fine with it?"

"That is exactly what I'm saying. Sookie, yield to me."

"Forget it," I huffed. " I'm not going to sleep with you while my boyfriend is out of town trying to save my hide."

I hadn't heard anything from Godric for almost two weeks and didn't know where he was or what he was doing, but I knew that he was trying to do something to prevent any more attacks on me.

"All right. As long as you sleep with me when your boyfriend is back in town. I would love to see all of that lovely hide of yours," Eric smirked.

God, he was cute when he did that. And really, really annoying.

"Stop that, Eric Northman. I'm not going to sleep with you, period."

"Even if you really want to?"

"Even if I really want to," I sighed.

* * *

It was a Thursday night, an hour or so before closing. I was sitting in a booth by myself, sipping ginger ale and listening in on people's thoughts.

One moment I was alone and the next Godric had slid into the booth at vampire speed and had me on his lap. I threw my arms around him and gave him a big kiss.

"Did you just get back? Where were you? Are you all right? I missed you! I'm so glad you're back, let's go home!" I rambled. Having him back made me realize how much I'd missed him.

Godric chuckled at my rant. "Let's go home and I'll tell you everything."

We left Fangtasia right after, while Eric stayed to close up.

We didn't waste any time once we got home, we didn't even make it to the bedroom. Godric pulled my dress off me as I helped him out of his clothes. I pushed him down on the big grey couch in the living room and climbed on top of him.

"I missed you so much," I told him as I kissed his neck, breathing in his wonderful scent.

"Every night I thought about the things I wanted to do to you. Like this," I said and  
bit one of his nipples.

I continued trailing kisses down his body, on his chest and down his stomach.

"And this," I murmured and took him in my mouth, sliding my tongue along the length of him.

Godric let out a groan and put his hands on my head, guiding me. When I felt him getting close, I stopped and looked up at him with a grin on my face.

"Not yet. You made me wait two weeks, now you'll have to wait a little longer."

Godric growled and with one swift move he had me pinned under him.

"I do, do I?" he said and then he was in me. My hips took on a life of their own, grinding against Godric as if my life depended on it.

"Mine," I panted and bit him in the shoulder. Godric growled as my teeth pierced his skin and then his mouth was on my neck and he bit me. We both came and I felt like my body was going to dissolve from sheer bliss.

We lay on the couch for a long time just enjoying the afterglow and the feeling of being together again. We were a mess of tangled limbs, naked and sweaty (me) and naked and glorious (Godric) when Eric came home. His eyes widened as he took in the sight of us.

"Finally I get to see all of you, Sookie" he grinned while I scrambled to find my dress.

"Not how I planned it, but it's a start."

I noted to myself that I should be mortified at being caught naked in the living room after just having had sex, but I wasn't. A little embarrassed, sure, but both Godric and Eric seemed entirely comfortable, and I guess some of that rubbed of on me.

"You're even more gorgeous than I expected," Eric continued and I could feel my cheeks start to burn. I must have been the shade of an overripe tomato.

"Thanks," I mumbled and slipped into the dress.

Godric just stood next to me, looking bemused. Not exactly the reaction I'd expect from my boyfriend as I was being ogled by another man, but then again Godric and Eric never acted as one would expect.

I went to take a quick shower and when I came into the livingroom, Eric and Godric were talking in Swedish.

I was so eager to know where Godric had been that I interrupted them in the middle of their conversation. Gran would turn in her grave if she knew about my bad manners.

"So, tell me. Where were you? What did you do there?" I blurted out.

"You said a while ago that you know about other supes. Which ones?" Godric asked me.

I might have been exaggerating a bit when I'd said that, because I only knew the little bit Sam had told me.

"I only know about weres and shifters mostly. A little about maneads," I told them.

"There are others," Godric said. "One of the most ancient are the fae. I believe you are descendent from them."

Ok, that was straight to the point.

"What, I'm a fairy? You mean like Tinkerbell? Shouldn't I be able to fly then? I giggled. Maybe that wasn't the appropriate response in this situation, but who could blame me?

They both just stared at me, dead serious.

"You're kidding, right? Fairies can fly?"

It was Eric that answered. "They did a long time ago. They don't anymore. They have evolved."

Oh all right then, I was just going to sit right down and breathe for a while.

"So shouldn't I be able to fly? Or whatever else they are doing now? Because I can tell you, I can't do any of that, whatever it is."

"Sookie, you're only part fae," Godric answered softly. "Your abilities are still emerging. You might not have inherited that particular gift or it might manifest itself later."

"How come you're so sure I'm fae?"

"I knew you were different from the moment I met you. You smelled different. You had a spark that I've never felt in a human. When you revealed you telepathy, I knew you were a supe, I just wasn't sure what kind. The night you let me taste your blood, I knew you were fae. But I've had fairies before and your blood tasted different. Better. I knew that the human blood in you wouldn't have improved the taste, so it must have been something else. I had to confirm my suspicions, so I went to speak with someone I knew back at the turn of the millennium."

I wasn't sure which millennium Godric was referring to, but it probably wasn't the latest one.

"So fairies are immortal too?"

"As old as the Fae can get, they are not immortal and they are certainly not invincible," Eric explained. "There are several everyday things in this world that are deadly to the Fae."

"Really? What are they?" I asked him. I figured it might be good to know, in case I had inherited some fairy weaknesses.

"Citrus fruits and iron, mostly" Eric said. "You don't seem to have that problem though, lover. One sip of those drinks you like so much would kill a full-blooded fairy."

"So I'm some sort of fairy/human hybrid?"

"That's exactly what you are," Eric answered, sounding almost proud. "You seem to have inherited many of their gifts, without any of their weaknesses.

"Does this mean I have living kin?" I didn't have much family left, so the idea of getting to know my new-found relatives was exciting.

"Yes," Godric said quietly.

"That's great! Can I see them? I would love to meet them!"

The fae are an ancient people, Sookie. They don't live in this realm. They closed off their world from ours a long time ago. As a rule, they are not particularly fond of humans. They find you..uncivilized," Godric explained.

I huffed a little bit. I wasn't sure I liked these new relatives of mine much.

"If it's any consolation, lover, they like vampires even less," Eric said with a smirk.

Nope, not really a consolation. These fairies sounded like snobs.

"Although the feeling is not mutual," Eric continued.

"What do you mean?"

"Vampires like faeries very much. They're very tasty," Eric smirked. "So tasty that we usually drain them."

It took a couple of seconds before I made the connection, but once I did I felt my temper rise.

"So you are attracted to me because I'm tasty?"

It wasn't exactly what I wanted to hear, that Godric and Eric only liked me because I had accidentally turned out to be vampire catnip.

"No Sookie, I love you because you're you." Godric said and pulled me to him.

I wasn't quite convinced, but I for now I had other pressing questions.

"So if the fairies don't like humans and don't come here much, how do you explain me?"

"Well, not all Fae keep away," Godric started to explain. "The Prince of Faerie and his kin come here every now and then. There are certain things necessary for their survival that the fae must procure from humans. They are responsible for that."

"So you're saying that I'm descendant not just from fairies, but from royal fairies?"

Eric and Godric both nodded.

"Great," I muttered. "That's just great. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to take a bath."

With that I stumbled into the bathroom and shut the door behind me.


	16. Chapter 16

I spent an hour soaking in the tub, just trying to sort through all the things Godric and Eric had told me. My mind was reeling; there was just so much to take it. When I'd calmed down enough to face Godric and Eric I left the bathroom, only to find them standing by the door waiting for me.

"This tasty fairy-blood of mine, where does it come from?"

"Your grandfather."

"Grandpa Stackhouse was a fairy?" I exclaimed. That might not have come out quite as I intended.

"No. He wasn't your biological grandfather."

"Gran had an affair?"

Godric nodded.

My sweet, loyal, loving gran had had an affair?

"Is this home wrecking grandfather of mine still around?"

"No, he passed away a little while ago. Your great grandfather is alive though. He is the one I went to see."

"How did you know he was my great grandfather?"

"I didn't, but I knew from tasting your blood you must be from his blood-line. So I approached him about it and he confirmed it."

"But he doesn't live in this realm and he doesn't want to see me. So what's the point of knowing I'm related to him?" If I sounded a bit angry and hurt, it was because I was.

"Sookie, it's not that he doesn't want to see you. There is a war brewing in Faerie; Niall was only trying to protect you by keeping his distance."

"Niall? That's his name?"

"Niall Brigant, yes. He is the Prince of Faerie. He has been for the last 1200 years."

Oh. Great grandpa was a little older than I expected.

"To answer your question Sookie, it matters a great deal." Godric continued.

"Sophie-Ann may be arrogant enough to antagonize Eric and myself, but even she is not a big enough fool to take on the fae," Godric said with disdain. Neither Eric nor Godric were overly impressed with Sophie-Ann or her ability to reign Louisiana and since she was much younger than both of them, they often felt like they had to humor a petulant child.

"Last time the fae and the vampires went to war, it ended badly for all involved. There were considerable losses on each side. No one wants to see that happen again. Particularly not now when we are trying to mainstream. The AVL would not allow it."

"So that means she has to leave me alone now?"

"Yes, that is exactly what it means. First thing tomorrow night I will go to New Orleans and speak with her. Once she knows, she will undoubtedly cease her efforts to acquire you."

Ok then. At least something good would come out these reclusive new relatives of mine.

"Good. Let's go to bed, I'm exhausted."

"Sure princess," Eric said with a smirk.

I just rolled my eyes and marched off to bed in a huff. This night had been an emotional roller coaster and I was so ready to be done with it.

I had no such luck. Godric joined me in bed even though it wasn't quite dawn yet.

"Eric told me that he tried to kiss you," he said, just as I was about to close my eyes and go to sleep.

"Yes. But nothing happened. I'm sorry."

"Sookie, you have nothing to apologize for. Why would I want you to suppress your attraction to Eric?"

Oh. He knew about that? Of course he did, he could sense my feelings.

"Because it's wrong." I said, sitting up and facing him.

"Why? Because society says so? A large part of society also thinks it's wrong for humans and vampires to be together. You don't live up to their expectations in that regard, why do it in this?"

He was right, I guess, but it was so deeply ingrained in me that I had never questioned it.

"Sookie, only you can decide what is right for you, but please don't let other people's prejudices dictate your choices."

"Wouldn't it hurt you if I was with Eric?"

"It would hurt me if you lied to me. It would hurt me if you went behind my back, if you concealed things from me. But you being with Eric is none of those things."

"But wouldn't you be jealous? Or don't vampires get jealous?"

"Oh yes, vampires get jealous," Godric smiled.

"We are generally very possessive. I would kill any vampire who touched you. Anyone but Eric. I want him to be happy, as I want you to be. He loves you, Sookie. I cannot change that and I wouldn't want to. I'm happy he does. You two are the most important thing in my existence. Nothing would make me happier than you caring for each other."

Oh wow, wait what? Eric what!

"I'm going to sleep now. If you have any other earth-shattering news it will just have to wait till tomorrow," I told Godric and I meant it.

He chuckled and kissed my forehead and then I fell into a deep sleep.

I woke up around 130, which was early for me now that I was on a vampire schedule. Even after I had gotten dressed and made myself lunch, there were still hours until Godric and Eric would wake up, so I decided to go to the mall. What better way to celebrate the fact that I had just found out that I'm a fairy princess than by going shopping, right?

I spent a couple of hours at the mall, mostly browsing and people watching, though I did buy a book and some cute flip-flops. After I was done shopping and had some ice cream I decided to go home and went down to the parking garage where I'd left my car.

I could feel his brain before I saw him. He was hidden from my view and he was singing lines of a song over and over again in his mind. The only people who'd done that were friends or family who knew about my telepathy and didn't want me in their brain or Rene, who knew about my telepathy and wanted to kill me. I was guessing this guy was in the latter category.

I could sense where his thoughts were coming from, so when he tried to sneak up on me from behind I turned around and I zapped him. He fell on the ground and I reached for the car door, but before I could open it he had me in a choke hold from behind. This was one of the many attacks Eric and I had practiced, so I tried not to panic.

I slid one hand between his arm and my neck and bent at the knees to change my center of gravity. I twisted my body as I crouched lower and then using all my weight for leverage, I threw him off me just like Eric had taught me. I'm not sure who was more shocked that it worked, me or my attacker. I zapped him again just for good measure and this time he stayed down long enough for me to get into my car and speed away.

I drove home as fast as I could, looking in the mirror constantly to make sure I wasn't followed. I ran into the house and straight to our bedroom. I stripped down to my underwear and slipped back under the sheets next to Godric, who was still out for the day. I lay there lost in my own thoughts, waiting for him to wake up.

Finally Godric opened his eyes and looked at me.

"What's wrong, Sookie?" he said immediately.

"I was attacked."

"Are you all right?" he asked and I nodded. "What happened?"

"I'm fine. I went to the mall and someone jumped me in the parking garage," I told him. "So I zapped his sorry butt."

I was pretty proud of that actually.

I told Godric everything that had happened and when Eric got up I had to retell the whole thing.

"And then I did that move you taught me," I explained proudly to Eric. "You know the one where I throw you over my shoulder."

I was particularly proud of that move, since it had taken me hours to learn, not to mention a lot of pain. You try throwing a 250 pound Viking over your shoulder for hours at a time and see how you feel.

Eric was beaming, obviously proud that all our hard work had paid off. Godric didn't look nearly as happy.

"I have to leave for New Orleans right away. Sookie, I don't want you to leave the house during the day any more. And you need to take Eric's blood. We can't risk your safety any longer. We have to take any and all precautions we can."

"But you said last night that once you talk to the queen the attacks will stop."

"I don't think Sophie-Ann is the only one who knows about you and who wants you. I am certain there are others. Please, Sookie. Don't argue with me on this."

"Ok."

I swear both Godric and Eric looked shocked for a moment before their usual unreadable vampire expressions returned. I guess they'd expected me to put up a fight.

"You will take Eric's blood?" Godric asked, surprised.

"Sure, why not? Though I'm pretty sure he's not as tasty as I am," I answered with an attempt at the smirk Eric was so good at. I could be as nonchalant and cocky as Eric any time. Ok, maybe not, but I was having fun trying.

During the two weeks I'd spent with Eric he had really grown on me. I knew having his blood made sense and if it was going to make me safer, then why not? I needed all the help I could get.

"You want to do it now?" I asked and Godric nodded.

Eric sat down on the bed behind me and put his left arm around me. I leaned back against his chest and tried to relax. I heard a soft crunching sound and then his other arm appeared in front of me, bearing two small fang marks. I latched on to the wound quickly and drank. He tasted wonderful, not much different than Godric.

I sucked at the wound, trying to draw as much blood as I could before it closed. Godric was watching me intently the whole time. The moment I finished, his lips were on mine and after an intense kiss, he licked the remaining blood off my lips. Eric seemed to have enjoyed it too, judging from the erection that was poking me in the back.

Godric left for New Orleans soon after. Eric and I sat on the couch, with his arm around me and my head on his chest. My feelings were all over the place and being close to him was calming. We sat there quietly for a long time, until we finally had to go Fangtasia. Eric told me I could take the night off and stay home, but I wanted to stay close to him.

The moment I got out of the car at Fangtasia, I knew something was wrong. There were a number of brains in the parking lot, both Weres and the empty voids that I knew were vampires.

"Eric, it's a trap!" I managed to yell, before someone hit me and I blacked out.

I woke up to a horrible sight. We were in what looked like an abandoned warehouse. Eric was covered with a silver net and both his hands were cut off. They were gushing blood and he was paler than I had ever seen him.

A vampire named Victor, who I'd met at Fangtasia several times, stood above Eric with a sword pointed at his chest. From where I lay I could see Eric's face and it was heartbreaking. I had never seen that look on his face before, the utter surrender to his fate. He was severely weakened by the silver and from the blood loss from his severed hands. Eric had given up. He knew he was going to die and he had accepted it.

* * *

So what do you think? Should Eric live or die?


	17. Chapter 17

A rage rose in me that I had never felt before. Even when Rene had tried to kill me I had felt a certain calm in my resignation and acceptance of death. I felt none of that now. Eric not existing was inconceivable to me and I just wouldn't have it.

To my surprise, I wasn't tied up in any way. Whoever had knocked me out seemed to have thought that I wasn't much of a threat and both my arms and legs were free. I lifted my arms towards Victor, trying to be quiet so I wouldn't attract his attention.

I had no such luck. Victor's vampire hearing must have picked up my slight movement, because suddenly Victor turned away from Eric and looked straight at me.

"Well hello there, Miss Stackhouse, so good of you to join us. Just in time for you to watch me kill your Viking."

"Why are you doing this?" I asked him.

Not that I cared anything about Victor's reasons, I was just trying to buy time to make sure my sparks would be as strong and precise as possible.

"Why, because of you of course" Victor answered.

"You will be an important addition to my retinue once I take over as King of Nevada. Actually, you are going to help me with that little task," he said and took a few steps toward me.

Good, the closer the better.

"I don't want to kill the Viking, you know. If you had just surrendered to the wolves I sent, this wouldn't be happening. Now I have to kill both Northman and that ancient fool of a maker of his. Incidentally, you will be helping me with that as well. You will be bait, Miss Stackhouse. And once we are done with these two you are coming with me to Nevada."

"No, I'm not! And I'm never going to help you ," I spit.

Victor smiled a revolting smile and continued.

"But of course you will, you will have no choice with me as your maker. You my dear are going to make a stunning vampire. And I suspect your charming little quirk is going to work on vampires as well once you've been turned. And as your maker, I will control your remarkable talent."

I lifted my arms and directed all my anger and rage at Victor.

When the first sparks hit him he fell to the ground. He lunged at me and his sword sliced my leg. I screamed in pain and unleashed my sparks again.

His sword dropped out of his hand and I threw myself at him and put my hands on his face. I held him down while his whole body convulsed. He had so little control of his arms that try as he might he couldn't get a grip on me.

"Hold on, Eric," I yelled to Eric over Victor's screams. I really hoped that he could.

There was smoke coming off of Victor's skin and he was obviously in pain, but he wasn't incapacitated enough that I could leave him without him attacking us again.

Eric, on the other hand, was losing blood by the bucket load. With both his hands severed, there was nothing he could do to stop the bleeding or to remove the silver that was weakening him and burning deeper into his skin every second. I didn't have time for this, Victor needed to die, and he needed to die now!

I scrambled over to the sword and turned around to face Victor, who was on his knees, struggling to stand up. Without thinking I lifted the sword the way Eric had taught me and brought it down on Victor's neck in one swift movement. In the blink of an eye, Victor's head was separated from his body and rolled along the floor. I dropped the sword and ran over to Eric.

His eyes were closed and he wasn't moving. Since he didn't have a pulse, there was no way of telling if he was still alive except to wait to see if he started to disintegrate – a sure sign that he was finally dead – and I wasn't about to do that.

I pulled his belt off of him and used it as a tourniquet for his right arm. I ran back over to Victor, who was starting to disintegrate, and managed to wrangle his belt off of him. I tied it around Eric's left arm as tightly as I could and then I started pulling the silver net off his body. When I was done, Eric was still laying lifeless and unmoving.

_Oh god please, I can't lose him._

I grabbed the sword and used the tip to make a deep cut in my wrist, which I put to Eric's lips. My blood trickled into his mouth slowly, but there was no reaction from him. Tears streamed down my face as I watched his lifeless body.

Suddenly I felt a slight movement at my wrist. Eric's lips were moving! He latched on to my wrist and started sucking slowly. Relief and joy washed over me as I watched him. The pull of his mouth got stronger and finally he opened his eyes.

"Drink, Sweetie," I told him. "Take as much as you need."

Eric stopped taking blood after a few minutes. I knew he needed more, but he didn't want to weaken me. As much as I wanted to give him all the blood he needed, I knew he was right. I needed my strength to get us home. I had no idea how, though. I didn't know where we were and we didn't have Eric's car, since Victor and his men must have brought us here from Fangtasia.

Oh god, Victor's men! I had completely forgotten about them, since Victor had been the only one in the warehouse with us. I lowered my shield, and was floored by all the minds that hit me at once. The building was surrounded, I could sense at least 25 minds, both vampires and weres.

There was no way I could get us past them, especially not with Eric in the shape he was in. For the first time that evening I felt overwhelmed by hopelessness. There was absolutely nothing I could do to get us out of here and it was only a matter of time before Victor's lackeys came looking for him. I cradled Eric close to me as my tears fell on him.

* * *

_Thank you all so much for your comments! Obviously everyone loves the Viking, which is as it should be.. I had two outlines ready, one where Eric lives and one where he dies, and I was so happy you chose to keep Eric alive! If the majority of comments had been for him to die I would probably have cried the whole time while writing the chapter.._


	18. Chapter 18

I heard the door open and braced myself for the attack. There were several wide pillars between us and the door, so I couldn't see them coming, but I could feel a number of vampire minds closing in on us quickly.

I knew that even with my sparks I wouldn't be able to fight off the scores of vampires and weres whose minds I could sense, but at least I would go down fighting. I held my arms up, ready to unleash my sparks at the first person who came around the pillar.

The first person to appear was Godric. He was over by our side in a flash.

"He's dying. Please do something," I managed to say before my body, knowing that we were finally safe, gave out.

When I came to I was in our bed, sandwiched between Godric and Eric. Eric was out, but Godric was smiling at me, stroking my hair.

"Is he all right?" I asked him.

"He will be," Godric answered. "He's had a lot of both mine and Pam's blood. It will be painful but he will heal."

"I thought we were going to lose him. I've never been this terrified my whole life." That was saying something, since I'd been plenty terrified the last couple of months.

"Did you kill Victor?" Godric asked, looking at me intently.

"I sure did," I said, pretty proud of myself. That man needed killing. I didn't feel an ounce of regret for what I've done.

"How did you do it? With your sparks?"

"Nope, with his sword. Sliced his head clean off, just like Eric taught me."

"You never cease to amaze me Sookie," Godric chuckled. "Victor was 800 years old. He was known for being extremely brutal and for never losing a fight."

"I guess he never fought a part-fairy telepathic barmaid before," I smiled, burying my face in Godric's chest.

We were both quiet for a while and I decided to change the subject to something I had wanted to talk to Godric about for days.

"I'm ready." I told him. "Are you?"

Godric looked at me and smiled.

"Yes. Are you sure, Sookie?"

"I haven't been as sure of anything in my life. I already feel like we're bonded. I want to take the final step."

I'd barely gotten the words out when Godric lips were on mine. We kissed for a long time before he carefully pulled away. His eyes never left mine as he bit into his wrist and put it to my lips. A second later his mouth was on my neck and he sank his fangs into my flesh.

In that moment, I was bombarded with stunning images. Godric as little boy, with a woman who must have been his mother. Godric bleeding out and waking up in the dark next to a vampire who must have been his maker. Images of cities that looked like something out of history books, landscapes that were as beautiful as they were foreign to me. Image after image flashed in front me, as if for a brief second I was there in these glimpses of Godric's 2000 year history.

Then a face I could recognize; Eric, as beautiful as a human as he is as a vampire. Eric on the battlefield, fighting gloriously before he is wounded and dying. Eric's face as Godric's fangs release and come at him, and again as he wakes up as a vampire. A long string of images full of Eric followed, before I could see myself, smiling at Godric at Fangtasia, with him at the clearing that horrible night he almost met the sun, us making love for the first time, then finally Eric and me in that awful warehouse, as I passed out and he and Pam took us home.

Godric had lived an incredible life and now he had chosen to tie that life to mine. I was so happy and honored and grateful.

I looked at him and I smiled. His feelings were as amazing as his memories, I felt like they were in me and around me at the same time, enveloping me like a warm blanket. They were everywhere, I could feel them as if they were my own. His love, his devotion, his happiness, his concern, his joy; it was all there.

_She shows no signs of shock, but I will have to watch her carefully. The next few hours are crucial. I can't feel any panic from her. She doesn't even seem overwhelmed. She is handling this exceptionally well. She is absolutely remarkable._

"Oh wow, I can hear you!" I exclaimed.

"You mean you can feel what I feel?"

"No, I mean I can hear you. I can read your mind, just as if you were human."

Godric just stared at me. For the first time since I met him he was speechless.

"You were thinking that I was taking it well. I guess you're worried I'm going to have some kind of breakdown. Why?"

"There are not a lot human-vampire bonds, Sookie, but I've heard of cases where the human bonded can go into shock at first. It's too overwhelming to feel everything the other is feeling. It's too much to take in, so the mind shuts down."

"Don't worry about me, I'm fine. I guess I'm used to knowing how others feel from reading their minds." I tried to reassure Godric.

"It's incredible. It feels amazing. It's as if you're in me and I'm in you. It's as if I've been with you since you were born. I can feel everything. Your love, your concern, your joy. And something else," I giggled, echoing his line from when I first took his blood.

Before I could act on it, Godric's phone rang. He looked at it and frowned, leaving the room quickly. He came back a few minutes later, not looking the least bit happy.

"We have been summoned to Nevada," Godric said. "For a hearing on the death of Victor Madden."

"What, like a trial?"

"They're not calling it a trial. But the purpose is to ascertain whether we are guilty in his death, yes."

"We? You mean me? I killed him, not you. And I'm human so vampire law has no jurisdiction over me." I might not be a lawyer, but I know that much.

"In theory you're right, Sookie, but you're my human."

I raised an eyebrow at that, but I let him continue.

"As such, I'm responsible for you actions. If you are found guilty, I will be punished."

"That's crazy, it wasn't your fault! If anyone's to blame, it's Victor."

"Yes, but as it stands, we have to go to the hearing. Our absence will be interpreted as an admission of guilt."

We left for Las Vegas the same night. I wasn't happy about it, but I understood that we had no choice. The following night we were summoned to the offices of Felipe De Castro, king of Nevada.

"It was a fair kill," Godric told the king.

It sure was, I thought to myself. Not only was it fair, it was downright gentle. Victor had deserved to die slowly and painfully. He should have been tortured for days on end for what he did to Eric, not sent to his final death swiftly and mercifully, I fumed to myself.

Godric looked over at me and raised an eyebrow. It wasn't like me to be this vindictive and brutal. I wasn't thinking like me, I was thinking like a certain Viking. Oops. Eric's attitude had rubbed off on me and I was becoming more and more callous and blood-thirsty.

I should have been shocked by my increasing lack of humanity, but I wasn't. I might not be a good Christian anymore, but I'd become a pretty good survivor. I wasn't about to apologize for protecting myself and the people I loved and if it took killing somebody who wanted us dead, then so be it.

And if De Castro thought he could punish Godric for Victor's mistake, he had another thing coming. I would stake him myself before I let him hurt Godric for something that wasn't his fault.

I didn't say any of this out loud of course. I let Godric handle the conversation with the king. Godric and Eric had finally gotten through to me about how to behave around others of their kind, especially those who were high up in the vampire hierarchy.

As much as I hated it, I understood that it was in our best interest to let them believe we had a traditional vampire/human relationship. Which meant that outsiders viewed me as little more than a feed and a fuck; a pet meant to satisfy her masters' primal urges, nothing more. Delightful, huh? So I behaved like a good little human throughout the meeting, kept my eyes down and my comments to myself, even if I had to bite my tongue a couple of times.

Finally the king conceded that it was a fair kill. Victor had attacked us with the intent of killing one or both of us. As such it was well within our rights to defend ourselves. It probably didn't hurt our case either that Victor had been planning to overthrow De Castro.

"Miss Stackhouse, you are a remarkable woman. Very few of our kind, let alone a human, would be able to defeat a vampire as powerful as Victor," De Castro said.

"Godric and Eric have taught me well, I guess," I shrugged.

"They certainly have," he answered, looking from me to Godric.

"That wasn't easy for you was it, sweetheart?" Godric chuckled and put his arm around me as we left the building.

"For a moment there I was worried you would stake the King."

Yup, Godric knew me pretty well.


	19. Chapter 19

After the hearing our lives became peaceful for the first time since I'd met my two vampires. It had become an established fact in vampire circles that I was a part-fairy from the Brigant line and bonded to Godric. As such no one could touch me; no one wanted to start a new war with the fairies and taking another vampire's bonded was punishable with final death.

Eric's recovery went faster than anyone had expected, but he was still frustrated that it took time to heal. Godric, Pam and I all gave him blood every night and his hands were slowly growing out again. I couldn't imagine how painful it must be for him, but he never once complained.

It was wonderful to spend so much time with him and I was happy that he finally let me take care of him instead of him always looking out for me. I did my best to entertain him and we spent our nights watching movies and just hanging out talking. He told me about his human years and assorted stories from his 1000 years roaming the earth. Godric joined us when he could, but he and Pam had taken over running both Fangtasia and Area 5 in Eric's absence, so he was busy most nights.

We were lying on the couch in the living room watching a movie when I felt Eric's lips on my cheek.

"You saved me lover," he whispered. I blushed and turned to kiss him. It was the nicest way I could think of to keep him quiet. It was too embarrassing to listen to him praising me.

After a little while he slowly pulled away and continued.

"The last thing I saw before I blacked out was Victor's head flying across the room. I knew then that I wasn't going to die. I knew you would save me."

I buried my face in his neck and whispered into his ear. "I'd do it again in a heartbeat. I can't imagine life without you."

I was so focused on Eric, I didn't sense that Godric had come home. He was standing by the door, watching us. He smiled as I looked up at him and he walked over to us. I could feel his love and his contentment as he sat down on the couch next to us. He looked from me to Eric and the feelings coming from him startled me as the realization hit me.

"You love Eric so much, more than life itself," I whispered.

"Yes."

"And you feel the same way about me."

"Yes."

"That's why it wouldn't hurt you at all to see us together. It would make you happy. It would make us all complete."

Godric smiled and brushed a few wayward strands of hair from my face.

"It's the only thing missing. I need to bond with Eric," I gasped as I realized that it was what I wanted.

The happiness emanating from Godric washed over me in waves.

"If you want to, Sookie. When you're both ready. But yes, it would make me very happy if you and Eric chose to bond."

Eric had given me his blood twice, so I knew that one more blood exchange was all it would take to make a permanent bond. I looked at Eric and he just smiled.

"Do you want to do this?" I asked him.

"More than anything, lover."

I scooted up onto his lap and put my arms around him, while Godric leaned over and carefully bit Eric in the spot where his shoulder met his neck. I latched on to the wound immediately and a moment later Eric fangs pierced my skin.

I knew what to expect this time, so I wasn't as startled as I had been with Godric when the images started appearing.

_God, she is gorgeous with my blood smeared all over her. I want her now._

I couldn't help myself, I burst out laughing. Leave it to Eric to think of sex in the middle of a life-changing experience.

"Hold your horses there, buddy," I giggled. "Can we take a moment to let it all sink in before turning this into an orgy?"

Eric smiled and pulled me to him to kiss me, while Godric caressed me. The three of us spent the rest of the night entagled in eachother, both physically and mentally. It was much more overwhelming this time, because now I had two bonds, two minds and two set of feelings surrounding me, while trying to sort out my own. And to make it even more overwhelming, in addition to having the two separate bonds with Eric and Godric, I'd also become a part of their bond. All together it was enough to make my head spin. They both tried to soothe me through the bond and finally I fell asleep in their arms.

As the days passed, I became more and more used to the bonds. Blocking their minds became as easy as with humans, and though I couldn't block their feelings I realized I didn't want to. Once I learned to not let it dominate my mind, their constant presence became less intrusive. It was actually comforting to always feel them in the background, whether we were sitting next to each other or were miles apart.

Eric was nearly fully recovered and went back to work. I continued to work for him at Fangtasia and Godric continued helping him. Pam and I kept getting closer. She'd been friendly to me ever since I first moved in with Eric and Godric, but after the night I killed Victor Madden, she'd been super nice to me. I guess saving someone's maker really endeared you to them. I really liked her, so I was happy that the feeling was mutual. She tended to express her love through shopping, so my closet was absolutely bursting with clothes.

It was a Saturday night and I was sitting in Fangtasia by myself. Godric had some business to take care of, so he wasn't there. Pam was at the door and Eric was on his throne, the center of everyone's attention as always.

I noticed her the moment she walked in and got a closer look at her as she stood near the booth I was sitting in. She was tall, at least 5'9 if not taller. Her hair was pale blonde, much lighter than mine. It was cut really short and with her big blue eyes she looked like a pixie. A really beautiful pixie. She was about my age, maybe a little younger. She wasn't dressed like most people in the club. She was wearing jeans, sneakers and a cobalt blue top. She was gorgeous and the way she moved just exuded an innate self-confidence.

I let my shield down and reached out for her mind. When I was in, I was surprised to find that I couldn't understand what she was thinking. She was thinking in foreign language, I had no idea which. The only word I could recognize was "Eric". Once she spotted him on his throne, she went straight up to him.

I expected him to rebuff her, like he did with all fang-bangers these days. So I was surprised that after she leaned down and whispered something in his ear, instead of turning her away, Eric gestured for her to sit down in the chair next to him. I felt myself getting a little jealous, but pushed the feeling away. I was always annoyed at Godric and Eric for being too possessive of me and now I was doing the same.

As much as I tried to stay calm and not make a big deal of it, it wasn't easy. After talking to her for a few minutes, Eric stood up, grabbed her hand and led her quickly through the crowd towards his office.

Being calm was no longer an option.

I stood up to follow them when Pam was suddenly in front of me, blocking the way.

"Don't, Sookie. Give them a minute," she said firmly.

What? Whose side exactly was Pam on? Well she was always on Eric's side, but I would have thought that we were close enough by now that she would rather see him with me than some random fang-banger.

"Come, help me enthrall the vermin," she said and dragged me off with her.


	20. Chapter 20

I spent the next few minutes quietly seething by Pam's side, until I saw Eric come towards our booth, gorgeous blonde girl in tow.

"Sookie, this is Ingrid," he said and I stretched my hand out to her. She had a firm hand-shake and a bright smile.

"It's nice to meet you," I told her, though that was a lie.

"Sookie," Eric said in his most soothing voice. He knew I was upset and was trying to calm me down through the bond. It wasn't working.

"Ingrid showed me something very interesting."

Oh, I bet she did.

"She came all the way from Stockholm to share something with us."

She put a picture on the table in front of me and I stared at it slack-jawed. The man in the picture was around 25. It was a black and white photograph and the clothes he wore looked old-fashioned. He was tall and broad-chested, with short blond hair and a look in his eyes like he could take on the world. He looked exactly like Eric.

"This is my grandpa when he was young," she said to me. "I read an article about Swedish vampires and when I saw Eric's picture, I was stunned at how much they looked alike. My dad had our family tree made years ago, so I checked it."

She paused for a moment before she continued.

"I was amazed when I realized that someone we had thought had been dead for over a thousand years was a vampire and still alive. I had to come and see for myself," she grinned.

She turned to Eric. "Your father's name was Leif, right?"

Eric nodded.

"You had six children. As far as I know, at least two of them lived to have families. I guess I should be very grateful for that," she said with a big smile.

"Here, I brought this for you" she said as she took something of her bag. It was a large rolled-up piece of paper. She handed it to Eric, who slowly unrolled it and spread it out on the table. It had only a few names at the bottom, but got wider and wider further up. There were several empty slots towards the top, I guess because the further back in history you went, the harder it would be to find people. Ingrid traced her finger along the paper and stopped at the upper right corner.

I leaned in to get a closer look, and gasped as my brain registered what I was seeing. There was Eric's name, along with the year he was born and the year he died. I followed the lines underneath his name as they fanned out across the page.

I went from being jealous to being completely fascinated. Ingrid was Eric's descendant. My boyfriend, the man I snuggled with and fought with and watched movies with, he had been alive a thousand years ago. He had children and his children had children. Generations of Eric's descendants had lived and died and he was still here, not looking a day over 30.

I had always known this of course, but it had always been such an abstract and alien concept. But now here I was, faced with this young woman who was Eric's great-granddaughter with god knows how many greats in front of it. The more I thought about what it really meant the stranger it seemed, like saying an ordinary word over and over until it completely loses any meaning.

When we got home, Godric was already there. We told him about Ingrid before we all went to bed. Since Eric and I had bonded we all shared one bed. If someone had told me a couple of months ago that I would be in love with not one but two vampires I would have told them they were crazy. And now here I was, crazy Sookie who never dated, with two vampire boyfriends.

The next evening Godric and I were sitting in the living room talking, when I decided to ask him about something that had been on my mind for a while.

"That thing you said when we first met about helping me meet other telepaths, that was total b.s, right?"

Godric smiled. "I hadn't met a fairy for more than a hundred years, Sookie. Let alone a telepathic fairy. Telepathy is a very rare gift, even among the fae." he said.

"I was intrigued by you and I could see that I had terrified you. I wanted you to be intrigued by me too. I knew that if I tried to actively pursue you, I would scare you away. I wanted you to come to me willingly. So I offered you the only thing that I could think of that you would want."

Right. Sneaky vampire.

"So you wanted me to come to you. Does that mean that if I hadn't called you to set up a meeting with Eric I would never have seen either one of you again?"

Godric looked as close to sheepish as a 2000 year old vampire can.

"No, it does not mean that." he said quietly. He paused for a long time before he continued.

"I was watching you. I had told Eric and Pam about you. I was still planning to meet the sun and I wanted to pass you on to Eric. This was before he attacked you of course."

Well, that's nice. At least he reconsidered when his psycho offspring tried to kill me. Wasn't that big of him? He'd planned to hand me over to Eric just like that!

"You were going to leave me to him? Like some kind of inheritance? Like leaving him the good china?"

Godric didn't need to check our bond to know that I was furious.

"Sookie, I knew you were special. I knew it was only a matter of time before someone would come after you. I thought you'd be better off with Eric as your protector instead of being enslaved by some vampire who'd only want you for your telepathy and your blood."

I decided to ignore the things Godric said that actually made sense and continued to huff indignantly.

"I can't believe you, Godric! How could you even think such a thing, leaving me to that big brute like I was some possession that you could do whatever you wanted with!"

He must have felt my rage through our bond, or maybe I was just yelling louder than I thought, because in strolled Eric, wearing track suit pants and a black wife-beater that accentuated all the muscles in his chest and his arms. He leaned against the door frame and looked at me intently.

"Are you speaking of me, lover?"

"Yes, I'm talking about you, you conniving snake of a man! You knew Godric was going to give me to you like some cheap present and you were going to take me?" If I came across as slightly indignant and a little bit angry, I felt like I had earned it.

"But of course, why would I not?" Eric answered calmly, as if it was the most natural thing in the world. I guess in their world it was.

Sneaky, conniving vampires! It was a good thing I'd learned to control my sparks, otherwise the whole house would be on fire by now.

Later that night Eric and I went to dinner with Ingrid. She'd decided to stay in Louisiana for a while and went to LSUS during the day and worked part-time at Fangtasia at night. I'd really grown to like her. She was funny and smart and could be such a bad-ass sometimes. She reminded me of Eric in so many ways. For one, she looked a lot like him, with her imposing height, beautiful blue eyes and short blond hair. She carried herself with a confidence similar to his and seemed completely indifferent to what the rest of the world thought of her.

After dinner we went to Fangtasia as usual. I listened in on people all night and by midnight my head was pounding. I'd taken two advils and that didn't help, so I decided to lay down on the couch in Eric's office for a minute. I walked in and was stunned by what I saw. I think I let out a small yelp before I quickly closed the door and turned to walk away.

Eric was in front of me in an instant.

"What's wrong, Sookie? What happened?"

I guess he could feel my shock and thought something bad had happened.

"Nothing. I was just startled, is all. Let's go back to the bar."

Eric could sense that I was hiding something. He raised an eyebrow at me, then reached around me for the door. Before I could stop him, he'd opened the door to his office.

Pam had already managed to put her clothes back on, but Ingrid was in her bra and buttoning her jeans.

Eric stared for a moment, then he did exactly what I'd done. He closed the door without a word, took my hand and marched back into the bar, with me in tow. I guess seeing one's vampire child and one's greatgreatgreat granddaughter making out could traumatize the most hardened vampire.

After that, Pam and Ingrid didn't hide their relationship, but could be found all over Fangtasia being all lovey-dovey. I thought they made an adorable couple and were really cute together. Godric thought it was funny, since Ingrid was as close to a female version of Eric as anyone could get. Eric fumed for a couple of nights, but then he got over it.

* * *

_When I started writing this story, I had a couple of things I wanted to do. I wanted to keep Godric alive of course, and have him and Sookie fall in love. I wanted Eric to go from a vampire who could care less about humans except for food and sex, to someone who loves Sookie unconditionally. I also wanted Sookie to develop from the innocent virgin she was to someone who becomes confident in not only her sexuality and her unconventional relationships, but also her fairy powers. And I wanted to introduce a new character, Ingrid, because I'm always hoping that one of Eric's descendants will show up either in the books or the show (and they'll deal with it in a more interesting way than they did with Portia and Bill..) _

_So now I've done all I set out to do at the start. I have the last chapter planned out and I could post it and end the story, but I'd like to try something else. If any of you have any suggestions, requests or ideas for this story, let me know in the comments. I don't know if it'll work or not, but I'll pick some of your suggestions, and try to incorporate them in the story. The only thing I ask is that you don't suggest something that goes against what's been established in the story so far (in other words, no Victor-is-alive-and-he-and-Sookie-fall-in-love, though I doubt any of you would do that..:) I can't promise it will work, but send me a few suggestions and we'll see how it goes.. Thanks!_


	21. Chapter 21

Sooo.. I'm back. It's been a long, long time since I last posted, but after a bad case of writer's block I've decided to finish the story. Thank you to everyone who commented on the last chapter way back when, there were some great suggestion there. I used bwtawny and kerriki's suggestions – thank you so much for getting me back on track!

I hope there are a few of you still with me who want to finish the story.. Here's a brief summary so you don't have to go back and read everything to be able to follow the last few chapters:

Sookie meets Godric at Fangtasia, avoids getting killed by an angry Eric, saves Godric from meeting the sun, and ends up bonding with him. She finds out that she is part fae and has an ancient royal great grandfather in another realm. She discovers her sparks and Eric teaches her to fight. Several vampires attempt to acquire Sookie, but the three of them manage to fight them all off, including Sookie beheading Victor and saving Eric's life. She bonds with Eric and it looks like the three of them will be living happily ever after..

But of course that doesn't happen. Here's what happens instead:

* * *

Looking back, I should have known much earlier that something was very wrong. Godric had been acting strange for days. He was withdrawn and irritable, which was very out of character for him. Whenever I'd ask him what's wrong, he'd avoid the question and distract me somehow, usually by kissing me. It didn't help that his mood was affecting both Eric and me through the bond, so that after three days the tension and frustration in our little household had reached a boiling point.

Godric and I were in the middle of another meaningless argument when all of a sudden his whole body went rigid. His eyes were blank and unresponsive. It was if he had turned into a statue. He stayed like that for several minutes, while I frantically tried to snap him out of his coma-like state.

I was just about to call Eric when I heard a loud crash from down the hall. Maybe unwisely, I ran towards the hallway and right into a massive wall of muscle. Before I could understand what was going on, the intruder picked me up and threw me over his shoulder. As he walked towards the living room, I could see our previously solid reinforced front door in pieces.

The intruder dropped me unceremoniously at Godric feet and spoke to him in a deep, low voice. I couldn't understand the words, but Godric obviously could. His eyes and body seemed to have been released from their frozen state, but he didn't speak or take his eyes of the terrifying man in front of him.

I just stared slack-jawed at the intruder, not knowing what to do or say. He looked oddly familiar, though I knew for sure I'd never met him. If I had, I'd remember; he was not someone I'd be able to forget easily.

The feelings I was getting from Godric were overwhelming; fear, anger and happiness all in one. I had no idea what to make of it. The man kept on talking to Godric, who stared at him mesmerized. I was frozen in place, with no idea what to do next.

After what seemed like an eternity, but probably was only 10 or so minutes, our bizarre little scene was interrupted by Eric barging into the room. He must have felt both Godric and my distress and rushed home from Fangtasia as fast as he could. Eric took one look at us and got down on one knee.

"Appius, it's so good to see you," he said with his head bowed, shocking the hell out of me. For one, Eric does not bow to anyone. Secondly, it was so not good to see this Appius, whoever the hell he was.

Appius turned and spoke to Eric, who was respectful and reserved in his responses, though I could feel the rage inside of him.

"We will leave you now with Godric," Eric finally said to him. "You two have a lot to catch up on."

Eric put his arm around me and nudged me to leave with him, but I was hesitant. I didn't want to leave Godric alone with this deranged maniac. It was only when I heard Godric thoughts directed at me that I realized that I had no choice.

"_Go with Eric, Sookie. Get as far away from here as you possibly can. I will be a danger to you now. Go! Now!"_

"Who the hell was that?!" I blurted out the moment we were safely in Eric's car.

"Godric's maker."

That's where I recognized him from! I'd seen his face in flashes when I'd bonded with Godric. He had told me that his maker was still alive, but that they hadn't seen eachother for centuries. I guess I knew why now, Appius was horrible. He sure wasn't going to be Maker of the Year anytime soon.

"Godric said that he would be a danger to me," I told Eric.

"He said that?"

"Well, he thought it. When I didn't want to leave him alone with that psycho. He told me to get as far away as I can."

"He's right. We have to leave tonight."

"No! We can't leave him here with that monster!"

Eric took his eyes off the road to look at me. "We have no choice, Sookie. Appius is unpredictable and dangerous. He could order Godric to kill you and he would have no choice but to obey."

"But why would he do that? What's the point?" I asked, eventhough it was probably too much to expect an ancient vampire to be sane and rational. I mean, this was somebody who had been killing people for food and fun before Jesus' time. He'd probably slaughtered tens of thousands of people. One more certainly wouldn't make any difference to him. Even if it was his child's bonded.

"Appius was never a reasonable man. But in the past millenium he's gotten progressively worse. More bloodthirsty, irrational and deranged. It's the reason Godric has distanced himself from him. His mind keeps deterioating and it's making him act in ways that endagers everyone around him. The international vampire league detained him when we first decided to come out of the coffin. He was too much of a liabilitiy. I have no idea how he managed to escape. He's insanely jealous of anyone Godric is close to. I'm amazed he didn't kill us when he had the chance."

Great. My boyfriend's dad was an ancient vampire with dementia, who had basically lost his mind and could order his child to kill me whenever he saw fit. Why could my life not be boring for once? I could so do boring for the next couple of years.

"What do we do?"

"We run."

We left the same morning, me in first class and Eric in a coffin. We flew to Munich and drove from there. Eric said that we had to keep moving. If Appius wanted to find us, he could get Godric to track us easily. Our only hope was to keep moving long enough for Appius to be apprehended, either by the IVL or by the vampire assasins that Eric had hired.

So we kept moving. We drove through Austria and Italy, taking a ferry to Greece. We spent a few day moving from island to island, before crossing the Aegan Sea to Turkey. We planned to spend the day resting in Istanbul, before driving on to Cappadocia. Eric said that it was a magical place and that I would be safer there than in most other places.

The adventage of the bonds between me and Eric and Godric was that we could feel him when he got closer. We had felt him for a few hours in Naples, but the bond got weaker after that and by the time we were on the ferry neither of us could feel him anymore. It took us by suprise then, that when we woke up at dusk in Istanbul it was to the sight of Godric and Appius sitting on the couch of our hotel room.

* * *

_So, anyone still with me? What do you think?_


	22. Chapter 22

Thanks so much for all your reviews - I'm so happy so many of you are still with me!

* * *

I knew the moment I saw Godric that this would not end well. His whole body was rigid and his expression left me in no doubt of Appius' intentions. Poor Godric looked like he was in a world of pain and I knew why. This was no social call. Appius wanted me dead and he might not even bother to do it himself. He seemed like a creature heartless enough to order the man who loved me to do it for him.

"Sookie, I am so sorry," he said and blood streaked his face.

Appius said something to him in their language and Godric turned to Eric. The words came out slow and stilted and it was clear that he was fighting against every syllable.

"Eric, kill her. As your maker I command you"

Eric's whole body tensed with the force of trying to hold himself back. He moved as slowly as he possibly could towards me but there was nowhere for me to go, backed up as I already was against the hotel room wall.

"Use your sparks," he yelled and I did. His body shook when the sparks hit and though it did stop him for a moment he kept coming.

All I could do was close my eyes and wait for the inevitable. The only thing I could think of was how much I wished I were home safe instead of here with three vampires out to kill me.

After a moment that felt like days, I opened my eyes. Whatever I had expected, it was nothing close to what I saw. I was sitting on my old couch, crouched in the same position I had been when Eric had attacked me. Across from me in a rocking chair my parents had gotten as a wedding present was a woman I had never seen in my life. Before I could bring my startled self to string a few words together she smiled and started to speak.

"There you are! We've been waiting for days. We thought the vampires got to you after all. Glad to see that didn't happen. His highness will be pleased."

Well, that was just great. We didn't want to upset his highness, whoever the hell he was.

"And you are?"

"Oh, I'm sorry. I'm Claudine. Your cousin, once removed. It's so nice to finally get to speak to you. His highness hasn't allowed contact until now."

"Look. I've had a rough couple of days. My bonded just tried to kill me. So forgive me if I'm a bit slow, but my only cousin lives in New Orleans and looks nothing like you. So please explain to me who you are and what you're doing in my house. And who you answer to."

She gave me a sweet smile and started to talk. She was fae, she said, descendant from Niall, the prince of Faery, who happened to be my great grandfather.

I knew of Niall already, since Godric had told me about him, which made believing the strange woman in my house a little easier.

When Niall had found out about Appius trying to kill me, Claudine continued, he had sent out a fairy search party for me, which included her. Their task was to find me and bring me to Niall before the vampires got to me. I'd say they hadn't done a very good job of that seeing that I had been seconds away from being ripped to pieces, but I kept it to myself. She seemed so happy to have found me that I didn't want to ruin her good mood.

"Is that what happened? You found me in Istanbul and brought me here? How?"

She looked at me for a long second before she burst out laughing.

"You are just too precious! They told me you were an innocent of some sort, but this! This is just too adorable."

I might have rolled my eyes at that, because a moment later she sighed and smoothed out her skirt.

"I apologize, Sookie. I didn't mean to offend you. But I've never met a fairy who is so powerful, yet so human. Let me show you."

One moment she was there and the next the empty rocking chair swayed with no sign of my new-found cousin Claudine.

"That's what you did," I heard from behind me and I turned as fast as I could. She was standing in the doorway, as if she had just walked in through the front door.

"What did you just do?" I asked her, surprised and a little bit angry. I was sick of all these supernatural creatures toying with me.

"I teleported," she answered, as if it was the most natural thing in the world. "Which is what you did to get here. That is how we travel."

"I normally just drive my car."

Claudine laughed and plopped down on the couch next to me.

"I heard that you have a sense of humor. It's oddly charming. I can see why the prince is defying the council to save you. But enough chitchat. We have to go."

Before I could ask her where, she took my hand and the next second I was in the most beautiful place I had ever seen. We were surrounded by lush emerald green trees taller than the tallest building in Bon Temps. There were flowers of all shapes and colors all around us. The soothing hum of a waterfall filled the air and birds were perched on branches close enough for me to touch. They didn't seem startled by presence at all.

"Welcome to Faery," a deep voice said behind me.

He was stunningly beautiful. His eyes were as a green as the trees surrounding us and his hair was so blond it was almost white. His skin was light and untouched by wrinkles. He looked about 25 years old.

"I'm Niall. It's an honor to finally welcome you to your ancestral home."

"Thank you, sir. It's a pleasure to be here. It's beautiful." I thanked my lucky stars that Gran had brought me up right. In times like these, when I could barely think, it was a relief to just fall back on good manners.

Niall smiled and took my hand. "So beautiful. Just like your grandmother. She was an exceptional woman."

I couldn't agree more.

I spent the next few days getting to know my fairy kin. It turned out that Claudine was a triplet – she had a sister called Claudette and brother called Claude – and they all treated me like family from the the get-go. I only have Jason left and my cousin Hadley who I haven't seen for years, so to be surrounded by such a large family was wonderful.

On my third day in Faery the whole family had dinner out in the garden. It had been a beautiful day, warm and sunny, and I had spent it in the forest with Claudine, exploring parts of Faery and listneing to her stories about life there. I knew Niall and I had to have this conversation sooner or later, so when we were finishing up, I asked him if he would take a walk with me.

"Thank you so much for your hospitality – I have had a wonderful time the past few days. But I need to get back to my life in Bon Temps." A part of me knew that it was impossible without getting killed, but I also knew that I couldn't live the rest of my life in Faery.

Niall looked at me with an unreadable expression on his face. "If you go back you will be killed. I cannot allow it." If I had learned anything about my fairy kin in the last couple of days it was that they did not mince words.

"I really appreciate everything you have done for me, but I can't stay here. My life is in Bon Temps." Well, I had a no-good tomcat brother, a job that barely paid my bills and two vampire boyfriends out to kill me. I never said it was a perfect life, but it was mine and I had to live it.

Niall was quiet for a while before he spoke again. "I would like nothing more than for you to stay with us, Sookie. But as you know, Faery is divided. There are those of us who consider humans our equals and those who do not. The council unfortunately has a majority of the latter. As the ruler of Faery I have the last word, but defying the council on such a controversial issue is not something I can do without consequence. I would do it for you if it was what you wanted. But since you don't, it might be best for all of us to find a different solution."

Before I could ask him what that would be he continued. "We have to kill the vampires. Only then will you be safe."


	23. Chapter 23

"No," I said and it might have come out a little louder than I intended because all of a sudden I felt everyone's eyes on me. By the shocked expressions I could tell that it wasn't exactly common to tell the prince no.

"I don't mean any disrespect, sir, but there is no reason to kill Eric or Godric."

"They tried to kill you, did they not? I would say that is sufficient reason to kill them."

I realized that whatever came out of my mouth in the next minute would determine whether Niall would have my vampires killed or not, so I had to choose my words very carefully. It would do no good to try to convince him that they were good people under bad influence. From what I'd learned in the past few days fairies had an inherent distrust of vampires and Niall was technically right in saying that Godric and Eric had tried to kill me.

"I'm bonded with them both," I told him, although of course I knew that he knew.

"I'm well aware," he replied, in a way that left no doubt that he was not happy about it at all.

"From what I hear, humans rarely survive the final death of their bonded. It's said to be a very slow and painful death."

I wasn't sure if Niall was aware of the intricacies of human/vampire bonds. Appearantly they were rare and not something that was talked about a lot. From what Godric told me losing ones bonded was extremely painful. A vampire could survive it, but a human could not. He wanted me to know before we bonded so I knew what my choice entailed.

"Is that so?" Niall asked and his voice was gentler than before.

I nodded and he smiled. "You remind me of your great grandmother. She too could always talk me into anything she wanted. Only Appius then?"

"Thank you," I whispered, grateful that my vampires would not be harmed.

"Very well, I will dispatch assassins to kill Appius. Until he meets his final death you need to stay in Faery."

"It would be my pleasure."

In my time with my vampires I had come to learn the ins and outs of vampire politics. It turned out that fairy politics were not any less complicated. Somehow the council had found out about Niall's plan and were opposing it.

They argued that the prince ordering the assassination of an ancient vampire could be seen as a provocation that could upset the delicate peace between the two species. The last war between them had been devastating for both sides and no one wanted to risk another war.

It took over two weeks of tough negotiations before Niall was able to give the go ahead to the assassins. I wondered what he had to give up in order to come to an agreement with the council and I was eternally grateful to him for doing it.

I spent these weeks with my new family, especially the triplets and Niall when he had time. We talked and explored Faery but most of all they helped me improve my fairy powers and even discover some new ones.

I had pretty good control of my sparks already, but with their help I was able to really improve both my aim and force and even learned how to use them with a strength that Niall claimed was strong enough to set fire to vampires. My teleportation was what really needed work since I hadn't even known that I could do it until recently.

We had spent a full training and I was exhausted and felt like I was coming down with something. I went to bed early, thinking that with enough sleep I would feel fine again by morning. I had no such luck. The next morning I felt even worse and spent the day in bed. Claudine eventually called one of the handful doctors living in Faery. Fairies generally didn't get sick, she told me, so they only had a few doctors, mostly for births and emergencies.

After examining me and taking blood, the doctor left me with not especially encouraging words.

"You will not die tonight. Once I have the results I can tell you when."

I was so taken aback by his awful bedside manners that I just nodded dumbly as he left.

The next morning I was feeling worse, if that was even possible. Dr Peel came back with the results and delivered them in the same charming manner as the day before.

"I have bad news. You are allergic to Argon," he said and I breathed out in relief. How bad could an allergy be? I'd just take some antihistamines and I'd be fine.

"It will most likely kill you within the next few days."

"What?! It's just an allergy!" I couldn't believe this doctor coming in here with his bad manners telling me I was going to die. From an allergy?!

Then I remembered Claudine telling me that fairies were deadly allergic to citrus fruit and iron even though they're harmless to humans. Maybe this is what was happening to me, just in reverse.

"So it's kind of like fairies can die from things on earth that are harmless to humans?"

"Exactly," the doctor nodded. "Argon is present in the air on earth as well, but in much lower concentrations than here. Your body cannot process the excessive amounts and the build up will eventually kill you. Soon."

"What do we do?" I heard Claudine ask him as she walked him out.

"There is nothing our medicine can do for her. The only remedy is to stop her exposure to it."

"How can we do that when it's in the air?" Claudine asked him.

"She must leave our realm. That's the only way she will live."

It was decided that we would leave the next morning. The doctor had advised that I leave as soon as possible, but Niall thought that it was tactically unwise to leave at night since it left us more vulnerable to the vampires. He said our entry point back to earth would be Cappadocia. It was the last place where the fairies had lived before leaving earth and their magic was still strong there. If we arrived at dawn I would have the day to get some of my strength back before the vampires had a chance to to track us.

It had been two days since Niall dispatched the assassins, but they had not found Appius yet. Even though Niall had wanted me to wait with returning to earth until after Appius was gone, with this new development it was impossible. Either I'd go back to earth now or I would die in Faery.

When the time came I said goodbye to everyone except Niall and the triplets, who were coming with me. I was sad to leave everyone behind, but I was feeling so weak and sick that I was willing to do anything to get better.

The sun was just coming up behind the mountains when we crossed over from Faery. I could see straight away what Niall had meant with Cappadocia being a former fairy settlement. It was stunning and I was sure that even to the uninitiated it would seem magical.

We were surrounded by caves carved into the mountains around us. Rock formations in the shape of huge mushrooms sprouted everywhere and countless colorful hot air balloons were billowing in the sky.

"This is where I first met your great grandmother," Niall said, looking wistful. "It has changed a lot since then."

I could only imagine.

We spent the day resting and talking. Being in the sun and breathing fresh air helped me feel better almost immediately. Niall's plan was to stay here for the day to gather my strength and once the vampires had started tracking me and were close enough that I could feel the bonds we would teleport to Iceland. Since it was close to summer solstice there would be daylight almost around the clock. There would only be a few hours a day they could be outside and even then they would be weakened since the sun never truly set. It would take the vampires a day or two to catch up with us and then we would attack.

Niall had ordered the three assassins to join us as soon as we had crossed over to earth, so I had seven fierce fairies protecting me. I was confident that soon Appius would be dead and I could go back to my life with my vampires.

I couldn't possibly have been more wrong.

* * *

We're almost there, the next chapter will be the last. If you are interested in what Cappadocia looks like in real life, google it. It's a town in central Turkey and it really is a magical place.


	24. Chapter 24

Whether you joined way back in 2011 or just discovered this story thank you so much for staying with me until the end! I've really enjoyed writing it and reading all your comments along the way. Fanfiction really is an interesting form of writing, both in the sense that it's a well established universe that we all are fans of, but also the constant feedback one receives as a writer. It's been great fun – thanks again!

* * *

On the second day in Iceland I started feeling the bonds again. I was so excited to see my vampires again, but also scared about what might happen. I had made all the fairies promise that Eric and Godric would not be hurt.

As long as they took Appius out quickly his power over my vampires would be broken and they would not be a threat to us anymore. Or at least not intentionally. Claude, being his charming self, had declared that if one of my boyfriends tried to eat him he would whack him. I was pretty sure that however tasty the fairies were to them they had enough control not let the fairy blood overpower them.

"They're getting closer," I whispered to Niall. "Over there," I pointed into the distance. "And there," I turned and pointed again.

They had split up and were coming from different directions. Apart from the bonds I could feel the void that was Appius. Then, to my utter shock, I felt another void, then another.

"There's more," I told Niall, but from look on his face I knew that he could tell too.

"I know. At least 20, if not more."

"That's just great! Appius has mobilized a whole army against me?!" What had I done to this man for him to want me dead so badly?

It was then that the vampires started to come into view, running towards us so quickly they were just blurs.

The three assassins who were each on a mountaintop around us started taking out the vampires and a few of the blurs burst into flames. The assassins were using fire arrows and they would have worked like a charm if we hadn't been so vastly outnumbered. I just prayed that now that all bets were off Godric and Eric wouldn't be hit.

Niall and the triplets surrounded me as the vampires approached. I could all the three vampires that I knew and over a dozen that I didn't. Appius had Godric and Eric as well as 3 other vamps surrounding him closely as shields.

"I'm not sure I can keep my promise, Sookie" Niall whispered and I knew what he meant. If he had no choice but to kill my vampires to get to Appius then he would do it.

"Please, don't,"I begged but I knew it was either us or them and my vampires were on the wrong side. Niall had to think of the welfare of all the fairies, not just me.

"Appius, this is madness," Niall said and I couldn't have agreed more. "Stand down now and no more vampires will be killed."

Appius just scoffed and fixed his eyes on mine. "Give me the hybrid and the rest of you will not be harmed."

I looked at both Godric and Eric but their eyes were glazed over and I couldn't reach them. Their thoughts were incoherent and full of static.

"No, you will not harm my child," Niall replied and he had barely gotten the words out when the vampires attacked.

Everything went by in a blur after that. I used my sparks to the best of my abilities and sent at least one vampire to his true death.

Niall had separated Appius from the others and for a few seconds they were both blurs as they fought. There was a huge flash like lightning and only Niall was left standing.

Relief washed over me as I realized that we Appius was gone and we were free. I must have let my guard down then because suddenly I felt it – a short sharp pain at my throat.

It took a moment to realize that the blood gushing down was mine. I heard Godric and Eric yell my name and before I could tell them that I was fine, I was distracted by the most beautiful sight I've ever seen. My mom, dad and gran were standing in front of me – their arms outstretched and smiling. In that moment the pain disappeared and I moved toward them, overjoyed that we would all finally be together again.

-The End-

* * *

That's it, hope you've enjoyed it! I might write an epilogue if there's any interest for it, but otherwise this is it. RIP Sookie Stackhouse, the coolest barmaid Bon Temps has ever seen.


	25. Chapter 25 - Epilogue

I wasn't born then, but I think I know how Bob Dylan must have felt at the Newport Festival in 1965, lol. Thank you to those of you who had faith in me. If you look at the title of the story you will see where I was going with this from the beginning.

* * *

I came to slowly. I felt the presence of Eric and Godric and I felt safe. It took me a few seconds to realize where we were. We were underground, surrounded by dirt. Before I could even stir, I heard Godric's soothing voice.

"It's ok, Sweetheart. You're ok. Everything will be fine." His definition of fine sure was different from mine.

"I'm a vampire, aren't I?" I asked him, though I knew the answer.

"Yes," Godric answered.

"Niall? And the triplets? Are they safe?"

"Yes."

"Appius?"

"Dead."

"Good."

Eric and Godric dug us out. I was too shell-shocked to contribute and anyway my digging-myself-out-from-six-feet-under skills were probably not close to as good as theirs.

The trip back to the hotel was silent. I sipped my third Tru Blood of the night and it wasn't half bad. I'd gulped the first two down as soon as we'd gotten above ground, but I had been so famished I could barely make out the taste.

I tried to gather my thoughts, but my mind was reeling and I could barely keep up with it. One moment I wanted to stake them for what they had done and the next I was grateful that we were still together. Godric and Eric were wise enough to let me be, to keep the bonds comforting but unobtrusive. God knows what I would have said or done if they had pushed me.

When we arrived at the hotel I demanded my own room, marched up to it with the vampires in tow and slammed the door, leaving them in the hallway. I went straight to the bathroom, which thankfully had a bathtub, and let the water envelop me. It was soothing to let all my emotions and frustration run through me while surrounded by water, feeling almost weightless. At one point I spent over 10 minutes under water, fascinated by the fact that I no longer needed to breathe.

When I had calmed down enough to face Eric and Godric again I got out of the tub. I didn't know who or when, but someone had left a suitcase full of clothes in my size in my room. I had just finished dressing when there was a knock on the door. I could feel who it was so I didn't need to ask.

"Come in," I said and I made sure to sound as unwelcoming as possible. I didn't particularly want to see them but I did want answers.

"Which one of you turned me?" I didn't have the time or inclination for niceties.

"Both."

"Both?"

"Yes, we both drained you and we both replaced your blood with ours."

"Well, isn't that just great. You shared your fairy snack like good little vampires!" If I sounded angry and bitter it was because I was. Really, really angry. And incredibly bitter.

"Sookie," Eric started, but I didn't let him finish.

"Don't you Sookie me, you big brute. The last couple of times I've seen you you've tried to rip my throat out. So you don't get to say my name. As a matter of fact, don't talk to me at all!"

If I didn't know better I'd say the big bad Viking vampire looked chastised. Good. These two had a lot of grovelling to do if they wanted to get back into my good graces.

"Who killed me? Was it one of you?"

"No, Sookie of course not! One of Appius' minions. He's dead."

"Why did you turn me? You should have just let me die."

"Sookie," Godric said and stretched out his hand towards me. "I understand that you are angry, but please listen."

"No!" I shouted and swatted his hand away. "You don't get to tell me what to do. Let's make this perfectly clear. I don't care that you two idiots are my makers. You will never, ever command me to do anything, do you understand? You will never summon me! And if I decide to meet the sun, you will let me. Is that clear?

Tears were streaming down my cheeks and I was so angry I thought I would explode.

I slumped onto the couch and started sobbing uncontrollably. Godric and Eric just watched me cautiously, not wanting to upset me more by coming closer but not wanting to leave me alone either. They sent me calm through the bond, but I blocked it. If I was going to feel better it was by dealing with and accepting my emotions, not be by having them manipulated by the two of them.

By the time I could feel dawn approaching I had calmed down a bit though I still felt incredibly lost and angry.

Godric approached me carefully, like you would a frightened animal. "Sweetheart, we will die for the day soon. I know we are the last people you want to be with, but our room is light-proof. You have to stay with us."

I was so emotionally spent by then that I didn't argue. "Fine, but you will not touch me. Tomorrow you take me home and once I get to Bon Temps I don't want to see either of you ever again."

I laid down in the middle of the bed making sure that I took up as much space as I could so that they'd be as uncomfortable as possible. It was petulant and childish, and it made me feel a tiny bit better.

Then I waited to become dead for the day. Eric was out first, becoming absolutely still and lifeless. About 20 minutes later the same thing happened with Godric.

Me, I lay there restless and tired, but I couldn't sleep. This had happened before of course, me laying awake long after Godric and Eric were out, but that was while I was human. I was a newborn vampire, shouldn't I have been dead for the day before my two ancient makers?

Well, apparently not. I got out of bed, got a Tru Blood out of the small fridge and heated it in the microwave. I sat down on the couch and watched them while I sipped my Blood. It occurred to me that I could easily stake them, but as mad as I had been at them in the past few hours I knew that was the last thing I wanted. Even though I was still angry I was slowly coming to terms with reality, which was that I was a vampire and Godric and Eric had saved me. They had had no choice but to be pawns in Appius' crazy vendetta against me and it was not their fault that things turned out as they did. My anger, as understandable as it was, was completely misdirected.

I read the complimentary magazine for a while then I decided to go back to bed and try to sleep. I tossed and turned before I finally fell asleep. It wasn't exactly a restful sleep. I had strange dreams and woke up several times.

I finally decided that I might as well get up and take a shower. It was still light out and sunset seemed hours away. This was very strange. I was a vampire, there was no question about that. But my body didn't seem to have gotten the message and was acting like I was still human. Well, at least when it came to sleeping. I didn't have to go the bathroom anymore and I gulped down Tru Bloods like they were Ginger Ales. I also had sharp little fangs to prove the whole vampire thing.

But it seemed that I hadn't quite gotten the vampire sleeping schedule down. Well, I was a baby vampire. Maybe they were like human babies in that it took a while before they would sleep through the night? Or in my case, the day? I laughed to myself at the absurd thought and got in the shower. There were so many overwhelming things to deal with being a newborn vampire, I just couldn't worry about them all. I would ask Godric and Eric when they got up, they would probably know what was going on.

* * *

Not that I owe anyone an explanation, but to put Chapter 24 in context, when I first started writing, it was a story of Sookie as a vampire in a relationship with Godric and Eric. When I realized that flashbacks were not enough to tell the back-story, I started writing a separate fic with everything that happened before she was turned and that is Never Let Me Go. I chose the title because everything was meant to lead up to her dying and being turned. I didn't intend for the story to be this long or take this long to write for that matter. I was originally thinking around 8-10 chapters leading up to her death and then to finish the vampire Sookie story. But then Never Let Me Go took on a life of its own and became the main story I worked on and I stopped writing the story of Sookie's life as a vampire. Part of the epilogue was originally the first chapter of the other story, which is why it is open-ended. I might finish that story at some point, but right now I think I've had my fill of writing fanfic for a while.


End file.
